Bharti Airtel reported revenues of INR 187.3 billion for its fiscal fourth quarter to March, up from INR 162.9 billion a year earlier. EBITDA rose 14 percent from a year ago to INR 62.3 billion, while the margin fell slightly to 33.3 percent. The mobile operator's net profit fell over the same period to INR 10.0 billion, from INR 14.0 billion, hurt by extra costs for its 3G roll-out as well as tax and forex charges. Bharti Airtel finished March with a total 241.15 million mobile customers, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier. Compared to end-December, the customer base in Africa rose 4.3 percent to 53.14 million, and subscribers in India and south Asia increased 3.3 percent to 188.01 million. ARPU in India came in at INR 189, up from INR 187 in the previous quarter but down from INR 194 a year earlier. ARPU in Africa dropped to USD 6.8, from USD 7.1 in the previous quarter and USD 7.2 a year ago. Fixed-line subscribers in India were down 1.4 percent sequentially to 3.27 million, while TV subscribers grew by 2.3 percent to 7.23 million. Bharti Airtel improved operating cash flow in the quarter to INR 38.5 billion from INR 9.3 billion a year earlier, as capex dropped 48 percent to INR 23.8 billion. The company said it will pay a final dividend of INR 1 per share.
