Bharti Airtel Ltd’s profit for the financial year ending March more than halved, weighed down by a continuing tariff war with Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd in India which started almost three years ago. Net profit for 2018-19 fell 62.7% year-on-year to ₹409.5 crore from ₹1,099 crore in financial year 2017-18. The results underscore the sustained struggle of Bharti Airtel and other telecom operators in India to grow profits despite recording higher data and voice consumption. Smaller companies were forced to either shut shop or get acquired, leaving just Airtel, Jio and the merged entity of Vodafone and Idea to compete in the battlefield. Performance of the company’s Africa unit has proved to be a beacon of hope as it battles Jio at its home market.

Source: Mint May 06, 2019 14:03 UTC