Bharti Q3 cons net up 71%

Bharti Tele Ventures Ltd on Tuesday posted a 71.14 per cent rise in consolidated net profit at Rs 543.53 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 as compared to Rs 317.58 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Total income for the group has increased 40.22 per cent to Rs 3,045.15 crore for the third quarter in current fiscal from Rs 2171.57 crore in same period in 2004-05, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange.

On individual basis, the company has reported a net profit of Rs 538.68 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 as compared to Rs 26.17 crore for the same quarter in last fiscal.

Total revenue has increased to Rs 2,936.03 crore for the third quarter from Rs 28.16 crore in the year-ago period.

The company has also informed that the board of directors have approved the change of the name of the company from "Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd" to "Bharti Airtel Ltd" subject to the approval of the shareholders of the company and other regulatory authorities.