Bharti Airtel stock gains 2% as telco to buy stake in Avaada CleanTN Project

Shares of Bharti Airtel rose over 2% today after the telco said it has inked a pact to buy a 9 percent equity stake in Avaada CleanTN Project, a special purpose vehicle. This SPV is formed for owning and operating the captive power plant.

The large cap stock touched an intraday high of Rs 707.03, rising 2.29% against the previous close of Rs 691.45 on BSE. The stock opened with a gain of 2% at Rs 705.30 today. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 3.84 lakh crore on BSE.

A total of 0.60 lakh shares of the telco changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 4.19 crore on BSE. Bharti Airtel stock trades higher than 5-day, 20-day and 200-day moving averages but lower than 50-day and 100-day moving averages.

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The share has gained 33% in one year and risen 2.64% since the beginning of this year.

"The company has entered into an agreement resulting into acquisition of aggregate 9.012% equity stake in Avaada CleanTN Project Private Limited, a special purpose vehicle formed for the purpose of owning and operating the Captive Power Plant, in terms of the regulatory requirement for captive power consumption under electricity laws," said Bharti Airtel.

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On March 7, the telco along with Axis Bank announced a strategic partnership to strengthen the growth of India's digital ecosystem through a range of financial solutions.

"In a bid to accelerate adoption of digital payments in the country, over the coming months, Airtel and Axis Bank will bring to market a range of innovative financial offerings and digital services exclusively for Airtel's 340 million plus customers," Airtel said.

"These will include co-branded credit card with industry leading benefits, pre-approved instant loans, Buy Now Pay Later offerings and many more. The alliance, with its significant reach across the country will help penetrate tier 2 and tier 3 markets by enabling higher adoption of digitised payments," the telco added.

In the third quarter of current fiscal, Bharti Airtel reported a 2.8 per cent fall in its consolidated net profit to Rs 830 crore against a net profit of Rs 854 crore in the same period a year ago.
Consolidated revenue of Bharti Airtel rose 12.6 per cent to Rs 29,867 crore against Rs 26,518 crore in the December 2020 quarter. Operating profit rose 21.98 per cent to Rs 14,702 crore in the last quarter against Rs 12,053 crore in Q3 of the previous fiscal.

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