Country’s largest telecom service providerBharti Airtel on Tuesday announced its smallest profit in 18 quarters as the price war triggered by newcomer Reliance Jio led to a massive 75 per cent fall in its April-June earnings.
The net profit for the first quarter of 2017-18, at Rs 367 crore, was 74.9 per cent lower than the year-ago period, and the company blamed the disruptive pricing of the new entrant for continued “turbulence” and stress in the market.
The net income for the Sunil Mittal company stood at Rs 1,462 crore in the first quarter of 2016-17.
The June quarter net profit is the lowest since December 2012 for Bharti Airtel which along with other established telecom firms has been engaged in a fierce tariff war with Mukesh Ambani controlled Reliance Jio.
“The pricing disruption in the Indian telecom market caused by the entry of a new operator continued with industry revenues declining over 15 per cent year-on-year, creating further stress on sector profitability, cash flows and leverage,” Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.
Vittal stopped short of directly naming the new entrant.
The company’s total revenue fell by 14 per cent to Rs 21,958 crore during the quarter under review, from Rs 25,546 crore in the corresponding period of last year.