Bharti Airtel stock down over 4 pere cent in early trade on poor Q4 nos

Bharti Airtel shares were trading in the negative zone and were down over four per cent in early trade on Thursday following poor fourth quarter numbers of the company.

Reporting a sharp decline in profits, the company's standalone net profit fell by 31.1 per cent to Rs 1,084.4 crore for the quarter ended March 31, while on a consolidated basis profit slumped as much as 49.4 per cent to Rs 509 crore in the January-March period.

The shares of the company fell by 4.23 per cent over its previous closing price to touch an early low of Rs 305.25 on the BSE. On the NSE the stock after opening at Rs 308, fell by 4.90 per cent to an early low of Rs 303.10.

The scrip, however, gained some lost ground and was trading at Rs 314.20, down 1.43 per cent at 1018 hours on the BSE.

The company said that its net profit for the March quarter got affected, mainly due to increase in expenses and a tax charge.

The company had to cough up Rs 458.6 crore as tax during the quarter, which is 66 per cent higher than Rs 276.1 crore it paid in January-March, 2012, according to a regulatory filing.

Marketmen said the decline in the counters was largely a knee-jerk reaction to the quarterly numbers which was below market expectation.

Meanwhile, the broader market was trading with gains of 103.46 points at 19,607.64 points at 1018 hours.

With PTI inputs