Telecom infrastructure firm Bharti Infratel Ltd on Thursday posted a 24 percent drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 733 crore for the quarter ended September 2020. The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 964 crore in the corresponding period of 2019-20. Consolidated revenue grew by about 2 percent to Rs 3,695 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 3,638 crore earlier, the company said.

Bharti Infratel also announced the appointment of Indus Towers’ MD and CEO Bimal Dayal as the company’s managing director to facilitate integration of the two companies. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved merger of Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel, which will create the country’s largest telecom infrastructure firm.

”To facilitate integration and to ensure continuity, the Board of Directors of Infratel today appointed Mr. Bimal Dayal, the current MD & CEO of Indus Towers and the proposed CEO of the merged entity by the Shareholder Groups (Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Plc) as the MD of Bharti Infratel with immediate effect,” Bharti Infratel Chairman Akhil Gupta said in a statement.

On the operational side, both Indus and Infratel have continued supporting the telecom service providers in enhancing connectivity in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, he said. ”During the quarter, we have witnessed the highest net tower additions in the last eight years and the highest net colocation additions in the last three years. Also with major regulatory uncertainties behind us, we expect operators to focus on their networks both in expanding the reach and coverage of 4G and the introduction of newer technologies in the future. ”With a strong balance sheet along with industry leadership, we remain well poised to be the beneficiaries of data-led growth in the sector,” Gupta added.

Bharti Infratel had 97,283 mobile towers at the end of the reported quarter, which includes mobile towers of Indus Towers based on its 42 percent share in the company.