Bharti Infratel Q4 net profit at Rs 650 cr; co extends Indus Towers merger deadline by 2 months

Telecom infrastructure firm Bharti Infratel on Thursday reported a 7 per cent increase in consolidated net profit for the March quarter at Rs 650 crore.

It also extended the deadline for merger with Indus Towers by two more months to June 24.

The consolidated revenues for Q4 FY20 came in marginally higher at Rs 3,624 crore, according to a company statement.

Bharti Infratel said it "believes that thus far, there is no significant impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the financial position and performance of the company."

"The net profit for the quarter was Rs 650 crore up by 7 per cent year on year," it said. The net profit for the year-ago period (Q4 FY19) stood at Rs 608 crore.

For the full financial year ended March 2020, the company said its consolidated profit after tax stood at Rs 3,299 crore, up 32 per cent over the previous fiscal.

The statement, however, also mentioned that the results for the quarter and full year ended March 2020 include the impact of Ind AS 116 accounting norms and the same are not comparable with the past period results.

According to the company, its consolidated revenues for the full year ended March 2020 stood at Rs 14,647 crore, almost flat compared to the previous period.

The company's board took note of the status of the scheme of arrangement between Indus and Bharti Infratel and further extended the 'Long Stop Date' till June 24, 2020. This is "subject to agreement on closing adjustments and other conditions precedent for closing, with each party retaining the right to terminate and withdraw the scheme," it added.

Commenting on the earnings scorecard, Akhil Gupta, chairman, Bharti Infratel said, "After a few tumultuous years, the Indian Telecom industry took much needed constructive measures in the year gone by in the form of tariff increases. This along with encouraging trends on overall wireless data consumption has led to enhanced focus on improving the quality of networks."

As a result, during the year both Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers witnessed an increase in gross additions both on towers and co-locations on a year-on-year basis, he said.

"We believe this is a harbinger of the future especially as witnessed in the current environment of the COVID-19 crisis, where the nation's dependence on wireless networks has been further elevated.

"We as part of the telecom passive infrastructure industry are fully committed to supporting the Government and our customers, the telecom operators in the journey of India becoming a global benchmark in digital connectivity and inclusion," he added.

Bharti Infratel declared a third interim dividend of Rs 4.10 per equity share of Rs 10 each for 2019-20.

"This along with the two interim dividends of Rs 3.65 and Rs 2.75, would result in total dividend of Rs 10.5 per equity share of Rs.10 each for financial year 2019-20," the statement said.

On COVID-19 and its impact, the company said, "The passive infrastructure as well as active telecom operations of the company's customers are covered under essential services which are actively engaged in fulfilling the surge in demand arising out of the choice exercised by almost all industries to conduct their operations remotely. Hence, the telecom industry is among the businesses that are least impacted due to COVID-19."

The results were announced after market hours. Bharti Infratel shares closed at Rs 166.15 on BSE on Thursday, 0.81 per cent lower.

On February 24 this year, Bharti Infratel had extended the timelines for its merger with Indus Towers by two months to April 24. The delay in completion of the deal came as a blow to Vodafone Idea which has to cough up a total of Rs 58,000 crore in statutory dues to the government and had been eyeing about Rs 5,500 crore from stake sale in Indus Towers.