Airtel Profits Down By 77%; Jio Files Case Against Airtel’s IPL Ad!

Yesterday was a double whammy day for Airtel: They announced devastating financial results, which will make their investors not only anxious but also poor.

They just reported their lowest net profit in last 15 years!

Meanwhile, Reliance Jio has approached Court against Airtel’s IPL ad, which they claim is misleading the users.

#BureDin for Airtel continues…

Airtel Profits Down by 77.8%!

Airtel has just released their financial results for the quarter ending on March 31, 2018, and the results are devastating.

The columns of ledgers are bleeding red, as their net profit is down by massive 77.8%, compared to the same quarter last year.

While last year they reported net profits of Rs 373.4 crore, this year, they managed only Rs 82.9 crore of net profits.

This is their worst financial results in the last 15 years!

Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India and South Asia, Bharti Airtel has blamed Jio indirectly for their depressing results, as he said, “The telecom industry continues to witness below cost, artificially suppressed pricing,”

Revenues Down, But Capital Expenditure Increasing

If we talk about revenues, then Airtel managed to churn out Rs 19,634 crore for the last quarter, which is a decrease of 10.5%, compared to last year.

For the entire year, Airtel’s profits were Rs 1,099 crore, which is a decrease of 71%, and full year’s revenue was Rs 83,688 crore, a decrease of 12.3%.

The positive thing was net users, which increased to 413.8 million across 16 countries; which is an increase of 12.1%, year on year.

Despite massive erosion in profits, Airtel has announced capital expenditure on an infrastructure of Rs 24,000 crore, which is their highest to date.

Airtel has announced a dividend of Rs 2.5 per share, which makes their total dividend as Rs 5.34 for the entire year.

Jio Sues Airtel Over IPL Ad

Targeting the on-going IPL Tournament, Airtel had released an advertisement, which claims that every Airtel user can watch IPL matches for free on their network.

Jio has reacted strongly against the ad, as they claim that Airtel is misleading the users. As per Jio, Airtel users will be required to pay for the data.

Here is the controversial ad:

Jio had already move the Court earlier this month, against this Ad. In response, Airtel had put a disclaimer, but now, Jio is claiming that the disclaimer is not enough.

Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing Jio said that the ad is aimed at “enticing and luring viewers”, and should be scrapped.

We will keep you updated.