Bharti Airtel, the country's largest GSM mobile phone operator, on Thursday announced its results for the quarter ended June 30, 2009.

The company reported a growth of 24.3% in its net profit at Rs 2,517 crore for the first quarter

According to the company, the rise in net profit is due to the growth in the number of rural subscribers and foreign currency benefits.

But the revenue growth of the company was impacted by the fall in mobile termination charge to 10 paise and stiff competition.

Total income during the quarter grew 17.2% to Rs 9,942 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2009.

A forex gain of Rs 250 crore in the first quarter, as compared to a loss of Rs 168 crore last fiscal, boosted company’s profit.

Mr. Sanjay Kapoor, Deputy CEO, told that competition resulted to a fall in key parameters like average revenue per user and minutes of usage.
 
According to Mr. Manoj Kohli, CEO & Joint MD of Bharti Airtel, around 60% of the company's new customers presently come from the rural areas and the company expects this to rise to 75%. The company will be able to maintain its growth in the upcoming few years.

The company is not expecting the listing of its infrastructure businesses such as Bharti Infratel or Indus Towers for the next 2-3 years.