Bharti Infratel Q3 profit down 6%

Bharti Infratel Q3 profit reached Rs. 585 crore vis-a-vis Rs. 620 crore in Q3 2016, down by 6 per cent.

The consolidated revenues for the quarter, at Rs. 3,655 crore grew by 7% over the corresponding period last year. Consolidated EBITDA improved to Rs. 1,613 crore up 8% Y-o-Y, representing an operating margin of 44.1%.

Consolidated EBIT improved to Rs. 1,009 crore up 10% Y-o-Y. The operating free cash flow grew by 21% Y-o-Y to Rs. 970 crore for the quarter.

Akhil Gupta, Chairman, Bharti Infratel said, “We are all aware that the Indian telecom industry is transforming with unprecedented consolidation. Inevitably and as anticipated, we saw exits of co-locations from such consolidating operators this quarter. While there would be more exits on this account in coming few quarters, we expect the overall long-term impact to be positive due to expected accelerated step-up of nationwide 4G rollouts by remaining operators.”

With our reach, financial strength and operational expertise, we are in the best position to capture what we believe is a big potential for our industry based on exciting data-based demand,” added Gupta.

The total tower base of Bharti Infratel stood at 91,007 with closing sharing factor of 2.35. The company’s consolidated portfolio of over 91,000 telecom towers, which includes over 39,000 of its own towers and the balance from its 42% equity interest in Indus Towers, makes it one of the largest tower infrastructure providers in the country with presence in all 22 telecom circles.