Bharti Airtel has received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), allowing the company to increase its shareholding in Indus Towers Limited following a share buyback by the telecom infrastructure company. Indus Towers is a passive telecom infrastructure provider that deploys, owns, and manages passive infrastructure for various mobile operators.
Also Read: Indus Towers to Become Bharti Airtel Subsidiary After Buyback Exercise
CCI Approves Bharti Airtel's Stake Increase
"The Commission approves an increase in the percentage shareholding of Bharti Airtel Ltd (Bharti Airtel) in Indus Towers Ltd (Indus Towers) to 50.005 per cent pursuant to buy back of shares by Indus Towers," the CCI said in a release.
In August, Bharti Airtel announced that it would hold over a 50 percent stake in Indus Towers after the completion of the ongoing Rs 2,640 crore share buyback scheme by the telecom infrastructure firm. With its increased shareholding exceeding 50 percent, Airtel will gain controlling interest in Indus Towers, making it a subsidiary.
Indus Towers commenced the buyback of over 5.67 crore shares (56,774,193 equity shares) at Rs 465 per share on August 14, representing approximately 2.107 percent of the total equity shares in the company's paid-up share capital.
Indus Towers Q2 performance
On Tuesday, Indus Towers announced consolidated results for the second quarter, ending September 30, 2024. The company reported a net profit of Rs 2,224 crore for the quarter, a 71.7 percent year-on-year increase.
Consolidated revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 7,465 crore, up 4.7 percent year-on-year. Consolidated EBITDA reached Rs 4,907 crore, up 42 percent year-on-year, representing an EBITDA margin of 65.7 percent. Indus noted that its Q2 FY25 results included a write-back of Rs 1,077 crore in provisions for doubtful receivables, supported by collections against past overdue amounts.
The company ended the quarter with a total tower base of 229,658 and a closing sharing factor of 1.65.
Also Read: Indus Towers Launches R&D Labs for Green Energy Solutions With IIT Madras
Operational Outlook and Future Network Expansion
Indus Towers said, "Our operational performance reflects sustained demand for network expansion and our endeavour towards securing a larger share of our customers’ rollouts. This continues to drive our financial performance, aided by steady collection of past overdue from a major customer."
"We expect the performance to continue in the wake of network expansion plans of our customers over near to medium term," Indus Towers added.
