


Bharti Telecom needs much higher dividend income from Airtel to service loans: Analysts
Bharti Telecom Ltd (BTL) — the main promoter-level controlling company that owns 40.47% in Bharti Airtel — needs a much higher dividend payout from the Sunil Mittal-led telco from FY25 onwards to service its hefty interest costs, analysts said.
This is since BTL’s estimated annualised finance cost at Rs 3,183.2 crore is sharply higher than the modest Rs 600.6 crore and Rs 876.9 crore in dividend income it received from Airtel in FY23 and FY24 respectively.
According to analysts, BTL’s surging interest costs have been driven by its mounting debt — now at almost Rs 38,000 crore — as it has been regularly buying shares held by Airtel’s promoters — Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) and the Mittal family.
As per company data, BTL’s net debt has more than doubled from Rs 15,900 crore in December 2022 to Rs 37,800 crore in December 2024. This is since over the past few years, BTL has bought stakes worth Rs 38,100 crore in India’s second-largest telecom carrier. This includes BTL’s Rs 1,900 crore initial contribution to Airtel’s October 2021 rights issue.
“As per our estimates, Airtel’s FY25E dividend payout would have to increase to at least Rs 14 per share (vs Rs 8 per share in FY24) just for BTL to service its interest payments,” Motilal Oswal said in a research note seen by ET.
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