Telecom giant, Bharti Airtel, on Thursday reported a 72 percent year-on-year (YoY) drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 86.2 crore for the third quarter ended December 2018 amid rising competition.

In the corresponding quarter last year, the company posted a net profit of Rs 306 crore. CNBC-TV18 Polls had predicted a net loss of Rs 930 crore for the quarter under review.

Consolidated revenue of the company increased marginally one percent to Rs 20,519 crore for the quarter, against Rs 20,319 crore reported in the third quarter of the previous fiscal year, the company said.

As on December 31, 2018, the company had 404 million customers, an increase of 2.4 percent as compared to 394 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Total minutes of usage on the network during the quarter were 768 billion, representing a growth of 39.8 percent as compared to 549 billion in the corresponding quarter last year. Mobile data traffic grew 182.8 percent to 3,332 billion MBs during the quarter as compared to 1,178 billion MBs in the corresponding quarter last year, Bharti Airtel said in a BSE filing.

Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel, said, "Our simplified product portfolio and premium content partnerships have played out well during the quarter, translating into one of our highest ever 4G customers additions of 11 million plus. We have deployed 24000 broadband sites during the quarter and remain committed to invest in capacities ahead of the demand curve and provide a superior customer experience."

Shares of Bharti Airtel settled at Rs 307.15 apiece, up 1.25 percent on the BSE.

First Published:Jan 31, 2019 5:18 PM IST