Bharti Tele-Ventures staged a smart recovery today on the back of reports that the company plans to list itself on the US bourses.

In the afternoon trades, the scrip of the telecom service provider was up by 1.17% at Rs 38.75 on the BSE, recovering from its low of Rs 37.40 Close to one lakh shares changed hands on the counter by 14: 30 IST.

The recovery in the Bharti Tele-Ventrures (BTL) stock was due to reports that the company plans to get listed in the United States during the next financial year. The size of the overseas float is expected to be around $185 million or (Rs 888 crore). Earlier, in February 2002, the company had raised Rs 800 crore through an initial public offer (IPO) in the domestic market.

Meanwhile, BTL aims to have a subscriber base of  6 million cellular customers by March 2004, from the  current 3.22 million. The company is likely to invest Rs 175 crore in FY 2003-04. It offers cellular services in 15 out of 22 telecom market districts in India, spanning 93% of the $5 billion mobile phone market in a nation of more than one billion people.

BTL also provides fixed-line services and Internet access in India.

Recently, there were reports of a likely hike in the foreign direct investment ceiling for the telecom sector. The overall foreign holding in BTL currently stands at 47.28%, close to the FDI ceiling of 49%.

As on 31 March 2003, promoters held 46.55% stake in BTL, while the public and institutions held 2.28% and 2.75% respectively.

BTL has posted impressive results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 March 2003. It has reported a net profit of Rs 1.06 crore, compared to a net loss of Rs 2.45 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Total revenue increased from Rs 68 lakh in MQ-2002 to Rs 4.48 crore in MQ-2003.

For FY 2002-03, the company posted its first ever profit after getting listed on the domestic bourses, recording a net profit of Rs 22 lakh (Rs 12 lakh) on a total revenue of Rs 18.89 crore (Rs 3.95 crore).