Singtel to recognise its share of Airtel's provision at S$357m

SINGTEL on Tuesday said it will recognise its share of Bharti Airtel's provision for a one-time spectrum charge at S$357 million, or S$232 million on a post-tax basis.

This comes as its Indian associate accounted for an exceptional charge of 56.4 billion rupees (S$1.1 billion), based on reassessed regulatory costs related to the spectrum charge, Singtel said in a bourse filing.

Singtel's share of the provision will be classified as an exceptional item in its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended March 31, 2020. The mainboard-listed telco is due to announce its financial results on May 28.

On Monday, Bharti Airtel, which is India's third-largest telecom operator by subscribers, posted a loss of 52.37 billion rupees for the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of 1.07 billion rupees a year ago, Reuters reported.

Indian telecom firms raised tariffs late last year after the Supreme Court upheld a demand by India's telecoms department that wireless carriers pay 920 billion rupees in overdue levies and interest, Reuters said.

As at 11.06am on Tuesday, shares in Singtel were trading at S$2.72, up S$0.05 or 1.9 per cent.