Today’s top news includes a 20-year sentence for Dominique Pelicot in France, a significant crash in the Indian stock market, an investigation into quick commerce firms, Bharti Airtel’s prepayment of telecom dues, an FIR against Rahul Gandhi, and Bangladesh’s accusations against Adani Power. These stories highlight diverse global events impacting business, politics, and social justice.
Results for: Bharti Airtel
Nokia’s shares are on the rise ahead of their earnings report as they’re in exclusive negotiations with Bharti Airtel for a multi-billion-dollar 5G contract in India. However, Airtel is also in talks with Samsung, introducing uncertainty and potential risks for Nokia’s investors.
Nokia is in advanced talks with Bharti Airtel to secure a substantial contract for providing 5G telecom equipment, aiming to capitalize on the Indian mobile operator’s network expansion. This potential deal comes amidst slowing demand in India after a surge last year and follows Ericsson’s successful multi-billion dollar contract with Airtel. The agreement would involve Nokia’s latest technology, Air Scale mobile radios, supporting 5G-Advanced and reducing energy costs.
The Supreme Court of India will hear curative petitions filed by telecom giants Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea challenging the 2019 AGR ruling that imposed significant financial burdens on the companies. The hearing, scheduled for 1:30 pm today, will be closed to the public.
Sunil Bharti Mittal, the Indian telecom tycoon behind Bharti Airtel, is set to invest $4 billion in Britain’s largest broadband and mobile company, BT Group. Bharti Global, the international arm of Bharti Enterprises, will acquire a 24.5% stake in BT, marking a significant entry for the Indian conglomerate in the UK telecom market.
Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, saw his gross remuneration jump to Rs 32.27 crore in the financial year 2023-24, driven by a combination of salary, allowances, and performance-linked incentives. Mittal, a self-made billionaire, is one of India’s wealthiest businessmen with a net worth exceeding USD 11.5 billion. His company, Bharti Airtel, boasts a market cap of Rs 886,000 crore and serves over 500 million customers across South Asia and Africa.
Reliance Jio recorded the highest adjusted gross revenue (AGR) at Rs 25,330.97 crore in the March 2024 quarter, while Bharti Airtel saw the sharpest AGR growth. Overall, telecom service providers’ gross revenue grew by 3.01%, with the government collecting over Rs 6,506 crore in licence fees and spectrum usage charges.
Bharti Airtel has increased its stake in Indus Towers to 48.95% after acquiring 1% from Vodafone Group, which sold nearly 20% of its shares. The transaction involved 2.695 crore shares bought by Airtel on the market, bringing its total stake to 48.95%. The move follows Vodafone’s reported sale of 53.3 crore Indus Towers shares for Rs 17,065 crore.
Private equity firms KKR and DigitalBridge, along with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, are in the running to acquire Carlyle Group’s 24% stake in Bharti Airtel’s data center arm, Nxtra Data Ltd. The deal is estimated to value Nxtra at around $700 million and reflects the growing interest in India’s digital infrastructure sector.
Bharti Airtel emerged as the top Nifty gainer on May 16, with its shares surging 3% on positive sentiment stemming from tariff hikes, improved ARPU, and 5G network expansion. Despite reporting a 31.1% decline in consolidated net profit for the March quarter, brokerages maintained their bullish outlook for the stock.