Singtel offloads Bharti Airtel shares worth ₹5,849 crore in large deal, GQG picks 0.8% stake
Upstox
2 min read • Updated: March 7, 2024, 12:57 PM
Summary
According to the exchange data, around 4.95 crore shares representing around 1% of equity shareholding traded in deals worth ₹5,849 crore.
Bharti Airtel shares gained in morning trade on Thursday as around 4.95 crore shares of the company changed hands in large deals.
The stock recovered from early lows by gaining 1.62% to a high of 1,213.6 apiece on NSE.
According to the exchange data, around 4.95 crore shares representing around 1% of equity shareholding traded in deals worth ₹5,849 crore.
Meanwhile, market reports indicated that Singapore-based Singtel has sold 0.8% of its equity stake in Airtel for ₹5,849 crore. Singtel holds more than 29% stake in Airtel.
Singtel has lowered its stake in Airtel in the last few years. The company sold a 3.3% stake in Airtel for Singapore dollar 2.54 billion in 2022.
GQG Partners, an investment firm of Rajiv Jain, picked the 0.8% stake at the same price on Thursday.
Airtel shares have gained around 20% in the last three months. India’s second-largest telecom player reported a 54% growth in net profit to ₹2,442.2 crore for the December quarter. Its revenue rose by 6% ₹37,900 crore in the period compared to the last year driven by growth in average revenue per user.
Bharti Airtel has been rallying for an increase in tariffs as it eyes an ARPU of ₹300 over the mid-term for sustainable operations.
The company already achieved the targeted ARPU of ₹200 following hikes in tariffs last year. ARPU is a key profitability matrix for telecom players.
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal has been vocal about tariff hikes and has maintained that the company would not hesitate to raise tariffs despite competition from bigger rival Reliance Jio.
The company has been making huge investments in the rollout of 5G network across India and enhancing 4G and fibre connectivity.
Airtel, on Thursday, announced that the telco has expanded its network in Mandsaur District of Madhya Pradesh under the rural enhancement project.
The announcement follows expansion of the network in Ahmedabad of Gujarat recently.
Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading 0.27% higher at ₹1,196.1 apiece on NSE at 12:50 pm.