Airtel reports huge loss

Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel Ltd reported its first quarterly loss in over a decade on Thursday, taking a one-time hit of 14.69 billion rupees, as it lost customers amid a fierce battle against Reliance Jio for market share. Airtel’s net loss for the three months ended June 30 was 28.66 billion rupees ($415 million), compared to a profit of 973 million rupees a year ago. Revenue rose 4.7%. Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to report a loss of 10.17 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv data.