Bharti Airtel up 3.5% in opening trade despite result

Shares of telecom major Bharti Airtel surged over 3 per cent in opening trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday, even though the company reported an over 40 per cent dip in net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2010.

The company announced a 40.62 per cent decline in third quarter net profit to Rs 1,303.3 crore this morning. It had registered a net profit of Rs 2,194.9 crore in the corresponding period of the 2009-10 financial year.

However, despite the lower earnings, Bharti shares rose 3.52 per cent to an early high of Rs 325.70 on BSE. The scrip lost 6.6 per cent during the previous four trading sessions.

Similarly, the stock rose 2.74 per cent to an early high of Rs 325.80 on the National Stock Exchange.

In terms of volume, over 36 lakh shares of the company changed hands on the two bourses within the first thirty minutes of trade.

Meanwhile, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex was up 121.67 points at 9.42 am, at 18,143.89.