Bharti Airtel shares decline 2.5% after equity worth ₹7,400 crore changes hands in block deals

As many as 3.5 crore shares, or 0.6% equity, of Bharti Airtel Ltd., worth ₹7,400 crore changed hands at ₹2,108 apiece in multiple block deals on Wednesday, November 26.

This is the second block deal in Bharti Airtel in three weeks. Buyers and sellers in current transaction are not known officially.

On Tuesday, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing sources, that Indian Continent Investment has launched a block deal in the telecom operator for around ₹7,100 crore.

As many as 3.43 crore shares were on offer, equivalent to 0.56% of the company's outstanding share capital, sources said. The floor price was at ₹2,096.70 apiece, sources added.

At the end of the September quarter, Indian Continent Investment Ltd. held 1.48% stake in the company, as per data available on the stock exchanges.

Earlier this month, Bharti Airtel witnessed another block deal when 5.1 crore shares changed hands. Singtel was the seller in that transaction, as it mopped up over $1 billion or ₹10,800 crore by selling up to 0.8% stake.

Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of ₹6,791 crore in the September quarter, up 14.2% from the previous quarter's ₹5,948 crore. It was above Street estimates of ₹6,600 crore.

Its revenue increased 5.4% sequentially to ₹52,145 crore, above Street expectations of ₹51,006 crore. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 6.2% from the previous quarter to ₹29,561 crore, while its EBITDA margin improved slightly to 56.7% from 56.3% in the previous quarter.

Bharti Airtel shares were down 2.4% at ₹2,109.7 apiece just after market open. The stock has gained 32.2% this year, so far.

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