Bharti Airtel shares surge 10% post Q4 earnings; brokerages remain bullish

The share price of Bharti Airtel rose 10 percent to its 52-week high on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected March-quarter results. The company posted a strong core operational performance in the fourth quarter of 2019-20.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, revenue was up 7 percent at Rs 23,723 crore. A CNBC-TV18 poll had predicted revenue at Rs 23,157 crore.

The stock rose as much as 10 percent to its 52-week high of Rs 591.95 per share. At 10:19 am, the stock was trading 8.95 percent higher at Rs 586 per share as compared to a 1.5 percent or 471 points rise in BSE Sensex at 30,500.

However, the company has posted a consolidated loss of Rs 5,237 crore yoy for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2019-20. This was on account of provisions for statutory dues, the company said on Monday.

The telecom service operator had posted a profit of Rs 107.2 crore in the same period a year ago. It registered consolidated revenue of Rs 23,722.7 crore during the reported quarter against Rs 20,602.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.

Brokerages remained bullish on the stock post-earnings.

CLSA maintained a ‘buy’ call on the stock with a target at Rs 670 per share. It added that Indian mobile revenue growth was led by a 14 percent rise in ARPU (QoQ).

Credit Suisse has an ‘outperform’ call on the stock with a target at Rs 600 per share. It added that revenue and EBITDA rose 8 percent and 10 percent, respectively led by India mobile business.

For the year ended on March 31, 2020, the company posted a net loss of Rs 32,183.2 crore and a revenue of Rs 87,539 crore. For 2018-19, Bharti Airtel had reported a net profit of Rs 409.5 crore and revenue of Rs 80,780.2 crore.

“These are unprecedented times for everyone across the world as we battle the impact of COVID-19 and its consequent impact on livelihoods,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel.

—CNBC TV18