Bharti Airtel shares decline 3.5% after 5.1 crore shares change hands via block deal

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. declined 3.5% on Friday, November 7, after 5.1 crore shares changed hands via block deal.

On Thursday, November 6, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing sources that Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (Singtel), via Pastel Ltd., was likely to offload around 0.8% stake in Bharti Airtel for ₹10,300 crore, with a floor price of ₹2,030 per share.

The transaction would either be via an offer-for-sale route or a direct block trade, sources had said.

At the end of the September quarter, Pastel Ltd. held 8.32% stake in Bharti Airtel.

Earlier this week, Bharti Airtel reported its second quarter earnings. Its consolidated net profit increased 14.2% to ₹6,791 crore from ₹5,948 crore last year, above Street estimates of ₹6,600 crore.

Its revenue of ₹52,145 crore increased 5.4% sequentially from ₹49,462 crore and also beat Street expectations of ₹51,006 crore.

Bharti Airtel's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 6.2% sequentially to ₹29,561 crore from ₹27,838.7 crore. It was broadly in-line with the CNBC-TV18 poll of ₹29,005 crore.

Its EBITDA margin expanded slightly to 56.7% from 56.3% in the previous quarter.

Bharti Airtel shares hit a fresh record high of ₹2,135.6 post earnings. The stock was down 3.5% at ₹2,022 apiece just after market open on Friday. It has gained 26.7% this year, so far.

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