Shares of Bharti Airtel climbed over 5% to a record high today after the telecom firm said it has inked a definitive agreement with Dialog & Axiata Group to merge operations in Sri Lanka. The Airtel stock gained 5.31% to a high of Rs 1281.70 against the previous close of Rs 1216.70. Bharti Airtel stock opened higher at Rs 1218.65 today.
The large cap stock is up 26 per cent this year and risen 68% in a year. Bharti Airtel’s market cap climbed to Rs 7.23 lakh crore in the current trading session. Total 3.78 lakh shares changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 47.63 crore on BSE.
Under this agreement, Dialog will buy 100 per cent of the issued shares in Airtel Lanka, in consideration of which Dialog will issue to Bharti Airtel, ordinary voting shares which will amount to 10.355 per cent of the total issued shares of Dialog by way of a share swap, Bharti Airtel said.
The transaction is subject to the approval of Dialog's shareholders and is pending the completion of specific conditions outlined in the Share Sale Agreement, including clearance from the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) and completion of other applicable legal, corporate and regulatory compliance procedures.
Bharti Airtel stock has a one-year beta of 0.2, indicating very low volatility during the period.
In terms of technicals, the relative strength index (RSI) of Bharti Airtel stands at 54.8, signaling it's trading neither in the overbought nor in the oversold zone. The telecom stock is trading higher than the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day, 30 day, 50 day, 100 day, 150 day and 200 day moving averages.
The telco clocked a 54% rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,442 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 against consolidated net profit of Rs 1,588 crore in the year-ago period.
Consolidated revenue from operations rose 6% to Rs 37,900 crore in Q3FY24 compared to Rs 35,804 crore in Q3FY23.The telco’s average revenue per user (ARPU) rose marginally to Rs 208 in Q3FY24 compared to Rs 203 in Q2FY24.