For the past two quarters, it was only deferred tax gains which averted a loss and the company posted surprise profits. In current Q2FY19 too, the same thing happened. Bharti Airtel posted a deferred tax gain of Rs.2,633 crore and thanks to this, it posted a net profit of Rs.119 crore or else the company would have ended in a loss. The deferred tax gain was mainly on account of creation of deferred tax asset in DTH partially offset by charge towards network refarming / up-gradation program during the quarter.

The company recorded a 2% (QoQ) rise in revenue at Rs.20,423 crore but EBITDA fell 8% to Rs.6244 crore while margins shrunk 300 bps to 30.5%. Its ARPU fell from Rs.105 to Rs.101 (QoQ) and from Rs.145 (YoY).

The company’s consolidated net debt increased to Rs 1,13,204.20 crore v/s Rs 1,029,02.80 crore (QoQ). As of September 30, the company had 445 million customers, an increase of 14% (YoY).

The market reacted with a 2% jump to Rs.302 and now it is back to yesterday’s level of Rs.296…just about holding on to the green.