Tower arm of Bharti Airtel Bharti Infratel on Tuesday reported 34.25 per cent jump in net profit at Rs287.3 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2013, mainly on incremental gains from infrastructure sharing.
The company had reported a net profit of Rs214 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal.
Total income for the company during the January-March, 2013 quarter rose by 11.26 per cent to Rs2,673.6 crore as compared to Rs2,403 crore in the same period of 2012.
“...Despite subdued activity by operators, I think the results have been very satisfying. We have emerged as a very robust company financially,” Bharti Infratel Vice-Chairman and MD Akhil Gupta told reporters here.
On yearly basis, total income of the company rose 8.67 per cent to Rs10,272 crore as compared to Rs9,452.1 crore in 2012 while net profit rose 33.82 per cent to Rs1,002.5 crore as compared to Rs749.1 crore last year.
“last year for the tower industry wasn’t the brightest. I think we saw some pretty subdued activity by the operators... the reason clearly was regulatory uncertainties, financially they were a bit stretched and so we did see some roll-outs for capacity, coverage but one could sense a little bit of hesitation,” Gupta said.
He, however, added the bright spot was growth in data traffic, which has grown around 25 per cent quarter on quarter.
“I think that augers really well for the tower industry... there will be more roll-outs and demand for towers,” he said, adding that the there is improvement in the financial health of operators which is good for the tower industry.
“With Data growing at a fast pace and focused approach by new operators, we expect increased deployment of new networks by operators in the coming year,” Gupta said.
The total tower base for the company stands at over 82,000, with average sharing factor at 1.91.
Asked about the strategy going forward, Bharti Infratel CEO Devender Singh Rawat said the focus will be on enhancing tenancy ratio as well as putting up more towers.
The board of the company has proposed a full year dividend of Rs4 per equity share for the year ended March 31, 2013, which includes the interim dividend of Re 1 per share already paid during the quarter ended September 30, 2012.
Shares of the company were trading at Rs178 apiece in the afternoon trade, down 0.50 per cent, on the BSE.