Airtel announces Q4 results: customer base crosses 250 million, net profit down by 28% (India)
Leading telecom operator in India, Bharti Airtel announced its consolidated IFRS results for the fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2012. According to the company report, the revenue growth in the fourth quarter was fuelled by increased customer additions and strong minutes growth in India. Despite a national strike for 9 days in Nigeria, Africa revenues continued its growth trend.
The consolidated net profit declined 28 percent to $190.6 million, in the fourth quarter ended March, from $265 million a year earlier, resulting in the ninth consecutive quarter for which the operator witnessed a profit decline. The company added that the net income was impacted by higher costs on account of 3G license fee amortisation, 3G interest costs, forex fluctuation losses and tax.
Consolidated EBITDA margin was sustained at a robust level of 33.3 percent benefitting from scale and cost efficiencies. Further, revenue growth of 11.6 percent for the full year in India and South Asia was mainly contributed by stability in pricing accompanied by robust growth in customer numbers. The company’s Africa revenues stood at $1,071 million, up by 15.9 percent from the previous year.
In a statement, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited, said that he is pleased that the year has ended with the Company’s customer base crossing 250 million across twenty countries, the twentieth country being Rwanda. Their launch of 4G LTE, the first in India, is testimony to their commitment to the broadband agenda.
Further, the recent regulatory developments in India will have significant implications on the future of telephony and broadband, as well as India’s global competitiveness. The entire industry looks to the Government for a fair, transparent and sustainable telecom regime.
Bharti Airtel’s business future: strong or weak (India)
My history is that I have constantly been proving people wrong, says Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of the Bharti Group, to his partners. The man has successfully led Airtel to become a leading telecom operator not only in India, but in its oversees operations as well.
The company established itself as the most preferred mobile operator in India and entered the African market in 2010, thereby expanding its presence across borders. As reported by Wireless Federation earlier, Airtel became the first operator to launch 4G/LTE services in India in one telecom circle, with another launch to follow in the coming month.
While Bharti Airtel continues to stand amongst the bigger players in the market, the situation recently has been changing. The operator has consistently reported a decline in its quarterly profit over the two past years, causing industry analysts to speculate about its future position in the market. The operator has been suffering declines in its business operations both in India and abroad. Further, Airtel had invested around $ 14 billion for its African operations and is yet to earn spectacular returns on its investment.
Analysts believe that while the operator is at the forefront of many other services, it still needs to focus on its data services to improve revenues. Airtel needs to identify and implement creative data services that can engage customers and improve revenues.
However, while the industry may be abuzz with rumours that the declining profit margins could lead to the downfall of the telecom company, industry analysts believe that the fundamentals of the company are still very strong and that this is just another phase for the company which can be tackled well through a different strategic focus.
Airtel Nigeria stands by its new name
Airtel Nigeria has defended its decision to change the name Zain Nigeria.
According to Chairman and Managing Director, Sunil Bharti Mittal, the new brand identity gives the company the opportunity to present a single, powerful and unified face to customers, stakeholders and partners around the world.
He added that the new brand identity reinforces Airtel’s promise to deliver innovative services and a superior brand experience to their 200 million customers across Asia and Africa. Now the brand is modern, vibrant and friendly.
Apart from Nigeria, Airtel has operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Bharti rebrands Zain Africa operations
Bharti Airtel, the owner of Zain’s African assets has begun the re-branding process across the 16 operations in the region.
With the unveiling of the new brand identity, Airtel becomes the master brand for all the group’s 19 operations in Asia and Africa covering over 200 million customers.
According to Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and managing director of Bharti, the company’s African customers will now be able to enjoy the same best-in-class brand experience as our customers across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The company remains committed to taking network deeper into Africa, ensuring services touch the common man and bridge the digital divide in the continent.
Zain completed the $10.7bn sale of its African operations to Bharti in June of this year, allowing the Middle Eastern firm to will refocus on it’s highly cash generative operations at home.
Airtel unveil its new identity globally
Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company has unveiled its new identity today. Airtel has also announced that it has crossed the significant milestone of 200 million customers, reinforcing its leadership position in global telecom.
According to Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, fifteen years ago Bharti Airtel started its journey in India with a promise of delivering world-class and affordable services. Today, as the company expands on the global stage, this new brand identity gives them the opportunity to present a single, powerful and unified face to their customers, stakeholders and partners around the world. It reinforces the promise to deliver innovative services and a superior brand experience to our 200 million customers across Asia and Africa.
The new face of Airtel is youthful, international, inclusive and dynamic representing the journey of the first Indian brand to go truly global. The new identity highlights Airtel’s keenness to embrace everything that is new. The new Airtel logo replaces the capital ‘A’ with ‘a’. The red color, which is an integral part of the brand, continues to represent the energy and dynamism that has made Airtel the success it is today. The new curved addition to the logo is a symbol which will help ensure instant recognition across diverse international markets.
The Airtel signature tune has also been refreshed by A R Rahman making it youthful and dynamic in line with the new visual identity.
The new tune retains the spirit of the original but uses an inspiring musical style, with a universal appeal, that will be loved by listeners the world over.
Bharti keen on ringing abroad
NEW DELHI: The Bharti group is not keen on any domestic acquisitions in the telecom sector, instead it is looking at international opportunities.Speaking to DNA Money, Bharti chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said, “We have moved away from domestic acquisition.”
His reason: Not much is available in terms of benefits to Bharti from such acquisitions, as the company has licence, spectrum and customers across the country with a pan-India presence.
“The value that we can extract from a domestic acquisition will almost always be less than those who want to pick up a new territory or a new licence,” he said.
Even as there has been a buzz recently that Bharti may be keen on buying the BPL Mobile operation in Mumbai from Essar, Mittal denied it categorically.
“We have not even ventured into that thought. It holds no benefit for us,” he said. Hutch and Essar are entangled in a legal battle over the merger of BPL Mobile with Hutch-Essar.
When asked to react on the recent telecom sector clashes between the Tatas and the Aditya Birla group over Idea Cellular and then Hutch and Essar over BPL Mobile in Mumbai, Mittal argued that “these are not industry issues. These are partner issues.”
According to him, just the way the Idea issue got settled, even the Hutch and Essar clash would get sorted out. “You will see some settlement coming in the next one month or two (in the case of Hutch Essar clash),” he said.
Elaborating on the Bharti group’s thirst for international acquisitions, Mittal said, “We are ready for international acquisitions. As soon as we see the right opportunity, we will strike.”
But he pointed out that there wasn’t much opportunity available right now around the world.
“Most of what is available today is too far – like in
Africa or
South America. That is not of much interest to us,” he said.But, closer home, the group is looking at
Sri Lanka and even
Bhutan for telecom acquisitions. In addition, the group is exploring international opportunities in the
Chanel
Island and
Indian Ocean areas.The Bharti group already has a successful mobile telephony business in
Seychelles. It’s also about to roll out services in
Chanel
Islands.
Source- http://www.dnaindia.com
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