Bharti Airtel profit and market share declines

Bharti Airtel, the company that now owns Zain Africa, including Ghana, recorded a 27% fall in its third quarter profit between July and September as a result of decline in its market share in India.

The company’s profit drop is also attributed to cuts in call rates amid hyper-competition in its fast-growing home market.

The AP News reports that Bharti Airtel’s net profit for July-September period was $374.3 million, down 26.6% from a year earlier, the company said Wednesday.

Its revenue grew 47% from the year before to $3.4 billion, including $876.7 million from its first full quarter of operations in Africa, but India and South Asia revenue along grew 9.2%.

Bharti’s market share in India slid to 20.8% from 23.4% a year earlier, and rates per minute dropped 21% to just less than one cent.

The company in June completed its $10.7 billion acquisition of the Africa assets of Kuwaiti cell phone operator Zain, in one of the largest cross-border deals in Indian history. Higher taxes related to its Africa business also hurt profits, the company said.

A poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters had forecast net profit of $376.3 million and revenue of $3.4 billion for the company.

Chief Executive of Bharti’s India and South Asia operations, Sanjay Kapoor was quoted as saying “things still look very bright given the low penetration in the rural parts of the country,” adding “in a hypercompetitive environment now there’s a bit of stability.”

Bharti said it plans to start rolling out high-speed 3G services in India this quarter.

The stock fell 0.4% to $7.5 in early trading on the Bombay Stock Exchange

By Samuel Dowuona