Airtel’s net profit drops 39% in Q3

New Delhi, January 18

Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net profit for the third quarter of the current fiscal dropped 39.3%, the company said on Thursday.

It posted a net profit of Rs 306 crore for the third quarter of 2017-18 as compared to Rs 504 crore during the corresponding period in 2016-17, the company said.

The total revenue of the company stood at Rs 20,319 crore for the third quarter as compared to Rs 23,336 crore during the third quarter of 2016-17, reporting a decline of 12.9%.

"Regulatory fiat in the form of a cut in domestic IUC (interconnection usage charges) rates has exacerbated the industry ARPU (average revenue per user) decline in Q3'18. The recent announcement of reduction in International termination rates will further accentuate this decline and benefit foreign operators with no commensurate benefit to customers," the statement cited Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, as saying. IANS