Debt: Bharti may raise $1bn from bond sale

Bharti Airtel Limited, Indias largest mobile-phone operator, said it may raise as much as $1bn from an overseas bond sale to pare borrowing costs after reporting its lowest quarterly profit in more than four years.Bharti "would look to raise $750m to $1bn" from the issue, Group Chief Financial Officer, Manik Jhangiani, said at an earnings briefing. The New Delhi-based company may start the sale once market conditions improve, Bloomberg quoted him as saying. Bharti, which bid 156 billion rupees ($3.2bn) last year at auctions of airwaves to offer faster wireless services, has started writing off the amount it spent on the spectrum and is paying higher interest on borrowings used to fund expansion. The phone carrier controlled by billionaire Sunil Mittal on Friday reported a 38 per cent drop in profit, missing analyst estimates for a fifth straight quarter, as costs stemming from purchases of airwaves for third-generation services offset higher sales. "They were trying to replace their high-priced existing debt they took for 3G spectrum, with lower-priced debt," said Nitin Soni, an associate director at Fitch Ratings India Pvt. in New Delhi. "Theyre on the road it all depends on how the market will improve." Bharti rose one per cent to 397.30 rupees at the close of trading in Mumbai, compared with a 0.5 per cent advance by the benchmark Sensitive Index, or Sensex. The stock has gained 11 per cent this year compared with the Sensexs 14 per cent drop. Reliance Communications Limited, Indias second-ranked mobile-phone company by subscribers, has declined 43 per cent this year.
Click here to read full news..