Bharti Airtel reports fourth-quarter loss of over Rs 5,200 crore

Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd reported a loss for the fourth quarter on Monday, as it set aside 56.42 billion Indian rupees ($744.90 million) for one-time spectrum charges.

The company, India’s third-largest telecom operator by subscribers, posted a loss of 52.37 billion rupees for the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of 1.07 billion rupees a year earlier.

However, the telco’s quarterly average revenue per user at its India mobile services business rose 25 per cent from a year earlier to 154 rupees.

Indian telecom firms raised tariffs late last year after the Supreme Court upheld a demand by India’s telecoms department that wireless carriers pay 920 billion Indian rupees ($12.11 billion) in overdue levies and interest.

The company said total revenue rose 15 per cent to 237.23 billion rupees for the quarter ended March 31.

Bharti Airtel added it had seen an increase in data traffic during the Covid-19 pandemic, which prompted India’s government to impose a strict lockdown since late March.

READ | India has 7.1 COVID-19 cases per lakh population as against 60 globally: Health Ministry

ALSO READ | For migrants waiting to go home, life passes from line to line

WATCH | Covid-19: Frontline workers in containment zones to be tested, says ICMR