Bharti Airtel, the country’s top mobile operator, posted a forecast-beating 34 per cent jump in profit and said it would still hunt for targets to expand globally. Bharti, which in May called off tie-up talks with South Africa’s MTN Group that would have created a top-10 global telecom firm, added 7.5 million mobile subscribers in the June quarter to cement its market-leading position.

“There is nothing on the horizon that will significantly erode profit in the near future,” Bharti joint managing director Akhil Gupta said. “Surely tariffs are under pressure, will always be under pressure. But I think we are holding up very well.” Gupta said Bharti remained keen to expand overseas, despite the failure of talks with MTN.

“There are many countries, especially the emerging markets, where our low-cost model can be replicated. If we see any opportunity, we will certainly evaluate.”

Bharti said consolidated net profit rose to Rs 2,025 crore in its fiscal first quarter ended June, from Rs 1,511 crore a year earlier. Revenue rose 44 per cent to Rs 8,483 crore from Rs 5,905 crore. Analysts had forecast net profit of Rs 1,934 crore on revenue of Rs 8,406 crore. The country’s mobile user base rose 25 times between 2002 and 2007.

“The strong momentum in subscriber additions will continue till we reach 40-45 per cent level of penetration,” said Harit Shah, analyst at Angel Broking, who rates the stock a “buy”.

Rs 2,025 cr Bharti’s consolidated net profit, up from Rs 1,511 cr last year

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