Telecom operator Bharti Airtel's consolidated profit during July-September quarter declined marginally to Rs 1,461 crore from Rs 1,462 crore in previous quarter but that was far ahead of analysts' estimates on better-than-expected operational performance.
Revenue during the quarter slipped 3.5 percent to Rs 24,671.5 crore compared with Rs 25,572.9 crore in previous quarter, which missed expectations.
Commenting on the results, Naveen Kulkarni of PhillipCapital said that EBIDTA numbers were definitely better than expected. He added that revenues didn’t spring any surprises but EBIDTA numbers were a surprise.
The company’s effective cost management may have led to strong margins durind the second quarter, Kulkarni said.
Bharti Airtel’s consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) fell by 1.3 percent year-on-year to Rs 9,466.2 crore but margin expanded by 90 basis points to 38.4 percent in Q2, which surpassed analysts' estimates of Rs 9,250 crore and 36.3 percent, respectively. Margin expansion continued for fourth straight quarters.
Bhavesh Gandhi of IIFL said he expects the stock to see a positive bias when the markets open on Wednesday. He said that IIFL maintains a buy on the stock.
Meanwhile, Prakash Diwan of Altamount Capital said the margins and profit look better than expected on account of rental cost reduction exercise.
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