Bharti Airtel Q1 loss widens to Rs 15,933 crore mainly on account of provisioning for statutory dues

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday reported substantial widening of losses to Rs 15,933 crore for the April-June quarter, it’s fifth in succession, mainly due to one-time expenses. The loss for the corresponding period last year is Rs 2,866 crore. With average revenue per user (ARPU) India mobile services continued their recovery, rising for the fifth straight quarter.

“…during the quarter ended June 30, 2020, the Group has further recorded an incremental provision of Rs. 107,444 million (including net interest on total provision created considering interest rate as per the affidavit filed by DoT on March 16, 2020, with effect from the date of Court Judgment) to give the effect of the differential amount between DoT demand along with provision for subsequent periods for which demands have not been received computed based on the terms of the License Agreement, Court Judgment and the guidelines/clarifications and AGR Provision, which has been presented as an exceptional item,” the Bharti Airtel said Wednesday.

The company noted that the Supreme Court has reserved its order on the issue of the period over which AGR (Adjusted Gross Revenue) payments could be made.

As per the statement by Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel, India, South Asia “We are going through an unprecedented crisis caused by COVID. Despite this, our teams have served the country well and kept our customers connected. Data traffic growth surged by ~73% YoY even as 4G net additions slowed down to 2 Million caused by supply chain shocks in the device ecosystem”.

Consolidated quarterly revenue for the quarter rose 15.4% on the year.
“Revenues grew by 15% Y-o-Y and performance were satisfactory across all segments. Our flagship “War on Waste” program, helped improve EBITDA margin by 1.6% over the previous quarter,” Vittal said.
The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) grew to Rs 157 from Rs 154 in the previous quarter.