Why Bharti Airtel shares rose over 5% despite posting record loss in Q2

Shares of Bharti Airtel rose over 5 per cent in intraday trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday despite disappointing earnings for the second quarter ended September 30, 2019. The Sunil Mittal-led company has posted highest-ever quarterly loss of Rs 23,045 crore during the second quarter ended September 30, 2019 as compared to a net profit of Rs 118.80 crore in the same quarter last year. However, the company's loss before exceptional items for the quarter stands at Rs 1,123 crore.

Paring previous session losses, Bharti Airtel share price gained as much as 5.12 per cent to touch intraday high of Rs 381.25 apiece on the BSE, after opening tad lower at Rs 354.40 against previous close level of Rs 362.65.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), stocks of Bharti Airtel were trading 1.71 per cent higher at Rs 368.70. In the volatile trade so far, the scrip touched an intraday high and low of Rs 373.25 and Rs 357.25, respectively.

Also Read: AGR provisioning blows Rs 23,045 crore hole in Airtel balance sheet

Despite weak quarter, the telecom firm reported positive revenue growth in Q2FY20 on the back of various initiatives aimed at providing superior differential services through its Thanks platform. The consolidated revenue rose by 6.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 21,131 crore during July-September quarter of this fiscal, while India revenues was up 5.7 per cent YoY at Rs 15,361 crore.

The company witnessed strong data traffic growth of nearly 81 per cent YoY and added nearly 8 million 4G customers on its network during the quarter.

Also Read: AGR effect: Vodafone Idea Q2 loss balloons to Rs 50,921 crore

The company is going through tough time as it has to pay dues worth Rs 41,000 crore in licensee fees, spectrum usage charge, penalties and interest, after the Supreme Court recently backed the government's stance on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue.

During the quarter under review, the company has provided Rs 28,450 crore as a charge for the quarter with respect to the licence fee and spectrum usage charges (SUC) based on the definition of AGR.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar