Mobile operator reports profits drop (From Asian Image)

Mobile operator reports profits drop

10:48am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in World news

India’s top mobile operator Bharti Airtel is reporting a 22% drop in quarterly profit due to higher interest rates and 3G network rollout costs - its eighth straight quarter of decline in net profit.

The company said today that profit for its fiscal third quarter ending December was 10.1 billion rupees (206.3 million US dollars) on sales of 184.8 billion rupees (3.7 billion US dollars).

Bharti, the world’s fifth-biggest mobile phone carrier by subscribers, reported strong revenue growth in Africa.

Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said the company has “crossed the 50 million customer milestone” in Africa, where revenues rose by 16.1% year-on-year to 1.05 billion US dollars during the quarter.

Bharti’s share price fell 5.2% on the benchmark Sensex.