Telecom major Bharti Airtel reported a net loss of Rs 5,237 crore in the January-March quarter of the current fiscal mainly on account of provisions for statutory dues.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 107.2 crore in the same period a year ago.

Bharti Airtel registered a consolidated revenue of Rs 23,722.7 crore during the reported quarter against Rs 20,602.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.

The company took a hit because of an exceptional item of Rs 7,004 crore in the quarter, which comprised regulatory costs based on a recent judgment on one-time spectrum charge.

“Even in this difficult time, it is our investments in network technologies along with our culture of customer obsession that has allowed us to keep the nation connected and serve our customers,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO (India & South Asia), of Bharti Airtel.

“It is abundantly clear today that telecom has played an essential role in keeping the country going. We are, therefore, hopeful that the government will implement the recommendations of Trai and the intent of the New Telecom Policy and bring down the high levels of regulatory levies and taxes that the sector is subjected to,” he added.

For the year ended on March 31, 2020, the company posted a net loss of Rs 32,183.2 crore against a net profit of Rs 409.5 crore. Revenue for the 2019-20 fiscal stood at Rs 87,539 crore against Rs 80,780.2 crore a year ago. The company had hiked tariff rates in December and the full impact of the same was seen during the quarter.

The company has recommended a dividend of Rs 2 per share in line with its policy of passing through dividends received from Bharti Infratel.

Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net debt, excluding lease obligations, stood at Rs 88,251 crore as on March 31, 2020, down 18.5 per cent from Rs 108,235 crore a year ago.

The company’s ARPU (average revenue per user) was Rs 154 during the quarter against Rs 123 in the year-ago period. As on March 31, 2020, the company had 423 million customers, an increase of 4.9 per cent over 404 million in the corresponding quarter last year.