Bharti Airtel Q1 profit doubles

Bharti Airtel, India’s largest wireless network operator by subscribers, has announced that its quarterly net profit doubled in the first quarter ended 30 June 2007, on the back of a surging wireless subscriber base. Bharti, 30.8% owned by SingTel, said consolidated net profit rose to INR15.12 billion (USD375 million) in the first quarter from INR7.55 billion a year ago, while wireless subscribers jumped from 23 million to 42.7 million. Standalone net profit rose 73% to INR14.13 billion. Bharti’s total revenue rose 53% to INR59 billion although average revenue per user in the June quarter fell to INR390 from INR441 a year ago.