Airtel revenue up by 44%

Bharti Airtel Limited announced its audited US GAAP results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2008. It has once again maintained its strong growth momentum.

The consolidated total revenues for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 of Rs. 8,483 crore as well as EBITDA of Rs. 3,522 crore grew by 44% on a year on year basis. The net income for the quarter ended June 30, 2008 was Rs. 2,025 crore, a growth of 34% over last year.

Bharti had 7.17 crore subscribers, as on June 30, 2008, an increase in the total subscriber base of 61%, over the corresponding period last year and maintained its leadership position through an improved market share of all India wireless subscribers at 24.2% as on June 30, 2008, up from 23.1% corresponding to the same period of last year.

Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said, “It has been another quarter of leadership consolidation for the company. On the mobile side, it has been a particularly strong quarter with monthly customer adds crossing the 2.5 million mark. This clearly demonstrates that the Indian telecom growth story is intact and the rural markets are witnessing strong uptake.”

Last year, Bharti Airtel bagged the license to become Sri Lanka’s fifth GSM-based service provider. The company has already announced that it will invest about Rs 800 crore in Sri Lanka over the next five years to build a nation-wide mobile network in the country.

With just 30% mobile penetration and witnessing a steady growth of approx. 2 million mobile users per annum, Bharti Airtel sees Lanka as a strategic market in its overseas expansion journey.