Bharti Airtel shares fall 2.6%; CLSA bearish on it

Moneycontrol Bureau

Bharti Airtel shares lost more than 2.5 percent in early trade Friday after previous day's rally.  CLSA is bearish on the stock with a target price of Rs 315 apiece.
"Bharti's return on capital employed (ROCE) has dropped another 140 basis points to 5.8 percent and there is high risk of significant spectrum payments. With the stock trading at 25 times FY15, we maintain their underperform call," CLSA report said. Also Read - High spectrum cost may increase call rates by 50%: Telcos
According to a media report, Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom operater, is in talks to sell its Sri Lankan operations to Abu Dhabi-based Etisalat.
"Bharti Airtel Lanka, which has a subscriber base of 1.7 million, has been valued between USD 110 million and USD 130 million. Etisalat is Sri Lanka's third-largest operator with 4.5 million subscribers and it will move up to the second spot if the deal goes through," a media report said quoting unnamed sources.
At 09:38 hours IST, the stock declined 2.6 percent to Rs 305.30 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It had rallied 5 percent on Thursday.