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Informist, Friday, May 16, 2025

MUMBAI – Telecommunication stocks are likely to move in a range next week with sharp up or down movement only on specific triggers, analysts said. On the earnings front, Vodafone Idea is the only major telecom operator that is yet to declare its results for the March quarter and the financial year 2024-25 (Apr-Mar). The debt-ridden telecom company has not yet announced the date for declaring its results.

Bharti Airtel looks strong fundamentally but is likely to consolidate in the week ahead, Kshitija Salvi, technical analyst at IDBI Capital Markets & Securities, said. The stock is likely to move in a range of INR 1,800-INR 1,900, she said. Friday, the stock ended nearly 3% lower at INR 1,814 on the National Stock Exchange after Singapore Telecommunications sold around 1.2% of its direct stake in Bharti Airtel for INR 131.70 billion.

The telecom major announced its March quarter results Tuesday. Its bottom line beat the Street's view by a wide margin, helped by a large deferred tax credit of INR 42.33 billion. Its net profit for the quarter was INR 110.22 billion, significantly higher than analysts' expectations of INR 58.13 billion. "...we believe India wireless business tariff hikes are likely to be more frequent, going forward, given the consolidated industry structure and higher ARPU (average revenue per user) requirement for Jio also to justify significant 5G capex (capital expenditure) and given Jio's potential IPO (initial public offering)," JM Financial said in a report after the company detailed its earnings.

On May 9, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India issued a notification recommending that geosynchronous orbit-based and non-geostationary orbit-based fixed satellite services should each be levied spectrum charges at 4% of their adjusted gross revenues. Non-geostationary orbit-based fixed satellite service providers should also pay an additional per subscriber charge of INR 500 per annum in urban areas, the regulatory body said.

"...we continue to believe that Starlink's satellite broadband services pose limited threat to telcos' home broadband business given its higher pricing (7-18 times expensive) and limited speed... we believe these recommendations are largely neutral for Bharti/Jio; we also don't foresee any significant risk to growth potential for Indus Towers," JM Financial said in a report Monday on the recommendations. An analyst tracking the sector at a large domestic broking firm had similar views. "First they (Starlink) should come at competitive prices, then there might be a threat," the analyst said. "Broadband is a growing industry, anyway there is enough for all players to tap into."

TOP HEADLINES

* Vodafone Idea files fresh plea in SC seeking waiver of INR 300 bln AGR dues
* Bharti Airtel launches fraud detection solution for mobile, broadband users
* Analyst Concall: Bharti Airtel to roll out fibre network at more rapid pace
* Vodafone Idea to launch 5G in Delhi-NCR Thursday, targets 17 circles by Aug
* Earnings Review: Bharti Hexacom Jan-Mar PAT jumps 80% to INR 4.7 bln
* Earnings Review: One-off tax gain aids Bharti Airtel PAT, India sales subdued
* HFCL gets INR-1.57-bln order from Tera Software for BharatNet project

Following are the resistance and support levels for the stocks for next week as per calculations by Informist based on their prices on the National Stock Exchange:

End

Reported by Akash Mandal

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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