Bharti Q3 net slides as finance costs increase

The company’s board also approved the proposal to make Manoj Kohli the managing director (international operations) while elevating the newly appointed CEO of the India operations Gopal Vittal as the joint managing director. Vittal will also come on the company’s board of director as additional director. Sunil Bharti Mittal, who is the company’s chairman and managing director, will now be the executive chairman with both Kohli and Vittal reporting to him.

Mittal acknowledged that tough market conditions are putting pressure on margins. “Market conditions have been challenging in recent quarters due to pricing pressures and rising input costs, which have put enormous pressure on the sector and, consequently, the margins. However, the worst seems to be getting over with corrections taking place in customer acquisition practices and tariffs, which are driving quality of acquisitions and improving efficiencies. Moreover, on the data front, it is heartening to see strong (quarter-on-quarter) growth and across geographies,” Mittal said in a statement.

During the quarter, Bharti’s net finance cost rose 69% on a yearly basis to Rs 1,331 crore. Forex losses stood at Rs 248 crore against a gain of Rs 13 crore in the preceding quarter. Income tax expenses rose 20% to Rs 667 crore. Explaining the increase in financing cost, Kohli said, “The net financing cost has primarily increased because the dollar cost incurred in Africa when translated into rupees has gone up and secondly, because of the hike in the borrowing

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