Airtel posts Rs 5,237 crore Q4 loss, full-year loss at Rs 32,183.2 crore

For the fiscal ended March 31, 2020, the company posted a net loss of Rs 32,183.2 crore, compared to a profit of Rs 409.5 crore for financial year (FY) 2018-19.

The company saw some green shoots of growth in the last quarter of FY20 as the average revenue per user grew more than 25 per cent on year to Rs 154. The company’s consolidated revenue for the quarter recorded a growth of 15.1 per cent on year to Rs 23, 723 crore.

Similarly, the company’s earnings before interest taxes depreciation and amortisation grew 51.7 per cent on year to Rs 10,326 crore.

The company also gained customers during the quarter. As of March 31, 2020, the company had 423 million customers compared to nearly 404 million customers in the corresponding quarter last year.

To tackle the ongoing crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic, the company said it had set up “a war room” from where the top executives of the company, including its Chief Executive Officer Gopal Vittal, were monitoring the situation.

The company also pinned its hopes on some relief on the “regulatory levies and taxes” front, and said that since it was “abundantly clear today that telecom has played an essential role in keeping the country going” during the Covid-19 crisis, the government would “implement the recommendations” of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

“Even in this difficult time, it is our investments in network technologies coupled with our culture of customer obsession that has allowed us to keep the nation connected and serve our customers. It is abundantly clear today that telecom has played an essential role in keeping the country going,” Vittal said in a statement.