Bharti Airtel Slips After Posting Profit Miss Amid 5G Rollout

  • Revenue rose 22% while total costs increased 17%, filing says
  • “Believe there is a need for tariff correction”: Gopal Vittal

The Bharti Airtel Ltd. booth at India Mobile Congress 2022 in New Delhi.

Photographer: Prakash Singh/Bloomberg
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Bharti Airtel Ltd. reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, spurring India’s No. 2 wireless operator to make a case for higher tariffs as it rolls out 5G services across the country. Shares slipped on Tuesday.

The carrier, led by billionaire Sunil Mittal, posted a 90% jump in net income to 21.5 billion rupees ($260 million) for the quarter ended Sep. 30, according to a filing Monday, but missed the average profit of 25.44 billion rupees estimated in a Bloomberg survey.