BWI: Bharti Airtel Limited Q3FY 2009: Rural Coverage Crosses 4 Lac Villages; Revenues Exceed Rs 9,600cr

Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Bharti Airtel Limited
Thursday, January 22, 2009 10:21 AM IST (04:51 AM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest, Economy; Business: Accounting & management consultancy services, Banking & financial services, Business services, Financial Analyst, Stock exchanges, Telecommunications; Technology
Release no: 19032
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Bharti Airtel Limited Q3FY 2009: Rural Coverage Crosses 4 Lac Villages; Revenues Exceed Rs 9,600cr
Bharti Airtel Announces Results for the Third Quarter and Nine Months Ended December 31, 2008

New Delhi, Delhi, India, Thursday, January 22, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- Highlights for Third Quarter ended December 31, 2008

-- Overall customer base at 8.83 crore
-- Highest ever-net addition of 82.82 lakh customers in a single quarter
-- Market leader with a market share of all India wireless subscribers at 24.7%
-- Total Revenues of Rs. 9,633 crore (up 38% Y-o-Y)
-- EBITDA of Rs. 3,945 crore (up 33% Y-o-Y)
-- Cash Profit of Rs. 3,755 crore (up 30% Y-o-Y)
-- Net Income of Rs. 2,159 crore (up 25% Y-o-Y)

Bharti Airtel Limited (Bharti Airtel" or 'the company") today announced its audited US GAAP results for the third quarter and nine months ended December 31, 2008. It has once again maintained its strong growth momentum.

The consolidated total revenues for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 of Rs.9,633 crore grew by 38% and EBITDA of Rs. 3,945 crore grew by 33% on a year on year basis. The net income for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 was Rs. 2,159 crore, a growth of 25% over last year.

Bharti had 8.83 crore subscribers, as on December 31, 2008, an increase in the total subscriber base of 54% over the corresponding period last year and maintained its leadership position through an improved market share of all India wireless subscribers at 24.7% as on December 31, 2008, up from 23.6% corresponding to the same period of last year.

Commenting on the results and performance, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Limited, said "Bharti Airtel continues to lead the telecom growth story adding customer and revenue market share despite intense competition. Bharti's strategy of extensive roll out ahead of competition, especially in new villages, has yielded rich dividends. Our launch in Sri Lanka has received a huge response and despite coming in as the 5th operator we hope to be in a leadership position in the coming years. The customer response to the launch of our world class DTH and IPTV services has been encouraging. Bharti Airtel is well placed to capitalize on the huge telecom opportunity that India offers."

About Bharti Airtel Limited

Bharti Airtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider with operations in India and Sri Lanka and has an aggregate of over 88 million customers as at end of December 2008. Bharti Airtel Limited has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

Bharti Airtel is structured into three strategic business units - Mobile services, Telemedia services and Enterprise services. The mobile business offers services in India and Sri Lanka. The Telemedia business provides broadband and telephone services in 95 cities, DTH services and has recently forayed into the IPTV services. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel's high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 90,205 kms covering all the major cities in the country. The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine cable systems - i2i to Singapore and SEA-ME-WE-4 to Europe. For more information, visit www.bhartiairtel.in

Disclaimer:(This communication does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Any public offering of securities to be made in the United States will be made by means of a prospectus and will contain detailed information about the Company and its management, as well as financial statements.)

To view the press release with tables, please click on the link given below:

Press Release with Summary of Consolidated Financial Statements

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http://www.BusinessWireIndia.com/attachments/Financial Results.pdf
Financial Results.pdf


CONTACT DETAILS
Ashutosh Sharma, Bharti Enterprises, + 91 (124) 4666000-7, + 91 9818763772, ashutosh.s@bharti.in
Siddharth Kumar, Comma Consulting, + 91 (011) 46003200, +91 98180267907, skumar@comma.in
Kapil Sabharwal, Comma Consulting, + 91 (011) 46003200, +91 9811559835, ksabharwal@comma.in

KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, ECONOMY, CONSULTANCY SERVICES, BANKING, BUSINESS SERVICES, Financial Analyst, STOCK EXCHANGES, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TECHNOLOGY

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