The firm had a net profit of Rs 2,166.68 crore (Rs 21.66 billion) in the June quarter of last fiscal. The total income, as per Indian accounting rules, rose 22.62 per cent to Rs 10,429.94 crore (Rs 104.29 billion) during the June quarter.
During the quarter, the telecom operator added 8.55 million customers, the highest ever in a single quarter, taking the total customer base to 105.20 million. It now leads the market with wireless subscriber base of 24 per cent.
"We expect three-fourth of our customers to come from rural areas. Currently 40-45 per cent of our new customers come from rural areas," Kapoor said.
As per US accounting rules, Bharti Airtel reported 24 per cent growth in net profit at Rs 2,516 crore (Rs 25.16 billion) for the June quarter. The revenue at the end of June quarter stood at Rs 9,941.60 crore (Rs 99.41 billion), up 17 per cent over Q1 of FY'09.
"The total revenue in Q1 grew 17.2 per cent even after a 10 paise drop in mobile termination charges. Net of access and interconnect charges top line grew by 21.6 per cent Y-o-Y," Bharti Airtel Deputy chief executive Sanjay Kapoor said.
The company Joint Managing Director Akhil Gupta said: "There would be a capex of $2.2 billion during the current fiscal for Airtel's network expansion. The company would take up another $1 billion telecom infrastructure expansion.
"Overall the investment would be $3.2 billion which is the same as last year," Gupta said. The company did not answer to any queries on its proposed acquisition of South African operator MTN for which it is in exclusive negotiations till July 31.
At present, Bharti Airtel is negotiating a merger agreement with South Africa's MTN, for creating a combined entity with an annual sales of over $20 billion catering to over 200 million wireless subscribers across Asia and South Africa.
Boosted by strong profitability, the company's EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Tax, Depreciation and Ammortisation) grew 18 per cent Y-o-Y to touch Rs 4,152 crore (Rs 41.52 billion), with margins improving to 41.8 per cent.
"This good performance validates our rural thrust and investments in the past three years," Bharti Airtel Chairman and Managing Director Sunil Mittal said.
Cash profit was up 32 per cent Y-o-Y at Rs 4,412 crore (Rs 44.12 billion), as strong cash flows reduced net debt by Rs 21,84 crore.
"We have a strong balance sheet," Gupta said. The firm had a forex gain of Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) during Q1 of FY10, against a loss of Rs 168 crore (Rs 1.68 billion) in Q1 of FY'09.
