Bharti Airtel Bids To Enter Myanmar Telecom Market
Priyanka Kumari / 05 Jun 2013
The company is on the path to log another step in its international ventures, with a final bid for a licence to operate in Myanmar.
Leading Indian telecom operator, Bharti Airtel (BAL) is on the path to widening its international presence. BAL, with its group companies, has applied for the final bid to get a licence for operations in Myanmar.
An emerging market, Myanmar had previously invited bids from telecom operators. The country’s telecom department has shortlisted 12 companies for this including BAL. Telecom operators such as Vodafone and China Mobile had also applied for the same, but withdrew on grounds of strict conditions set by the Myanmar government.
On the domestic front, BAL, which had a market share (GSM) of 28.41% in India as of April 2013, has seen a drop in the number of subscribers as compared to its competitors Vodafone and Idea. In this period, just 60 lakh new subscribers have signed up for BAL’s services, and its total subscribers stand at 1890 lakh. Vodafone and Idea, on the other hand, have seen an addition of 142 lakh and 128 lakh subscribers respectively in April. This decline has affected the company’s business too, as BAL has seen just 0.32% growth in operations in April 2013 over that in the previous month.
Other than India, BAL has already set its footprint in countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and some African countries.
As regards the debt position of the company, BAL has a debt of Rs 12,980 crore in FY13 on a standalone basis as against Rs 14,129 crore in FY12. As per a media report, the company is going through a restructuring process to reduce its debt. It had also issued bonds of worth Rs 8,250 crore in the March quarter 2013 for the same. On June 5, 2013, the company received a nod from its shareholders to sell a 5% stake worth Rs 6,600 crore to Qatar Foundation Endowment. This will definitely help the company reduce its debt burden to some extent.
The results of the licence auction for operations in Myanmar are expected to come in on June 27, 2013. With a win here, coupled with the reduced debt on its books, BAL may see good sentiments taking its stock price up in the near future despite the current slowdown in the Indian telecom sector.
If you want to stay updated with the share market news today, keep a close watch on the indian stock market today with real time movements like sensex today live and overall stock market today trends. Investors tracking ipo allotment status, ipo news today, or the latest ipo india can also follow daily updates along with bse share price live data. Whether you are learning how to invest in stock market in india, preparing for a market crash today, or searching for the best stocks to buy in india, insights on top gainers today india, top losers today india, trending stocks india and long term stocks india help in making informed investment decisions.