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Bharti Airtel Surges 5% on Strong Q1 Results

Bharti Airtel Surges 5% on Strong Q1 Results

Shares in Bharti Airtel surged nearly 5 per cent to Rs 370.80 on Wednesday as it reported strong set of numbers for the first quarter of FY15 driven by its India business.

Its net profit grew 15 per cent sequentially to Rs 1,108 crore and its revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 23,005 crore against Rs 22,260 crore in the last quarter.

Bharti's consolidated ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) grew 6 per cent sequentially to Rs 7,720 crore and it ebitda margin also improved to 33.6 per cent against 32.8 per cent last quarter.

Bharti reported strong growth in its India telecom business. Its India mobile traffic grew 96 per cent year-on-year and 17 per cent sequentially.

Profitability of its India business also increased as its India ebitda margin expanded 132 basis points.

However its Africa business continued to remain weak. Its Africa mobile grew only 9 per cent y-o-y and ebitda margin from its Africa business declined 233 basis points y-o-y due to higher selling general and administrative expenses.

Citi has reiterated its high conviction buy on the stock with a target price at Rs 413 post announcement of results. CSLA also reiterated its high conviction buy on Bharti Airtel and said its ebitda estimates are likely to be upgraded after first quarter results.

Bharti Airtel shares closed 5.26 per cent higher at Rs 373 on Wednesday as compared to 0.55 per cent gain in Nifty.