Bharti Airtel turns negative; one-off boosts profits

An employee sits at a Bharti Airtel public phone booth installed at the airport in New Delhi October 23, 2012.

Reuters Market Eye - Bharti Airtel(BRTI.NS) falls 1.3 percent, erasing initial rise of as much as 2.6 percent, as investors factor in a one-off gain related to a telecom tribunal's judgment boosting revenue and profit.

Bharti's consolidated net profit falls 30 percent from a year earlier to 7.21 billion rupees for the three months to September, despite a one-off gain of 2.39 billion rupees from an outstanding dispute over inter-connect charges. IDFC, in a note to clients, says Bharti's earnings are in line with its estimates helped by healthy data pickup despite a soft voice business, and a 3 percent revenue growth in Africa business.

"Our hypothesis of Bharti being better placed due (to) scale benefits in India and upside from Africa market remains intact," says IDFC, which kept its 'outperformer' call on the stock. Nomura, however, maintains its 'reduce' rating on the stock and doubts the results will boost market confidence in Bharti's earnings outlook.