Share holders of Bharti Airtel have yet another reason to cheer about. India's top mobile operator said on Friday that its quarterly profit rose by 37% rising to 18.53 billion rupees ($461 million). Bharti said that its user base rose 67% than the previous year. It is to be noted that low call rates, networks in small towns and villages helped India's mobile operators to add 8 to 9 million subscribers a month which makes the country one of the fastest growing mobile hubs of the world.

 

SingTel, Southeast Asia's top phone firm which owns more than 30% shares in Bharti, said that under US accounting rules the net profit in the fiscal fourth quarter jumped from Rs13.53 billion from previous year to Rs18.53 billion. The fourth quarter revenue rose to Rs 78.19 billion from Rs 53.93 billion last year.

 

A poll conducted by Reuters among 12 brokerages had predicted a net profit of Rs 17.73 billion for Bharti. Bharti's share too recorded a growth of 8.1%, the highest since February when the shares fell by 17%, as the main index fell by 23%. The company believes that it will earn more revenues from small towns and villages when the mobile operators will be allowed to retain their numbers even while changing operators.