Bharti Airtel reported strong September-quarter growth as revenue rose 16.7% to ₹60,878 crore. Higher customer spending and postpaid additions helped the firm beat estimates, though net profit missed expectations. Gopal Vittal said, "We continue to maintain a strong and resilient balance sheet, anchored by robust cash generation and disciplined capital allocation."
NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel Ltd's September-quarter performance was powered by higher customer spending, postpaid additions and a stronger Africa business, helping the telecom operator beat revenue and Ebitda estimates. Net profit, however, fell short of market expectations.
Consolidated revenue from operations rose 16.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) and 4% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to ₹60,878 crore, ahead of Bloomberg's estimate of ₹60,140 crore. Net profit increased 31% y-o-y and 8.8% sequentially to ₹8,887.5 crore, but missed the consensus estimate of ₹9,293 crore.
The Gurugram-based company's Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) grew 18% y-o-y and 5% q-o-q to ₹35,240 crore, beating estimates of ₹34,406 crore. The company attributed the growth to higher revenue.
"We continue to maintain a strong and resilient balance sheet, anchored by robust cash generation and disciplined capital allocation," said Gopal Vittal, executive vice chairman of Bharti Airtel.
"Africa delivered a standout quarter with 6.7% QoQ constant currency revenue growth. Africa's improving performance is also benefiting from the rollout of Airtel's homegrown technology stack across markets, powering our go-to-market capabilities. Group-wide synergies are also beginning to deliver tangible operating gains. India business recorded strong revenue growth of 2.7% sequentially."
The results come days after rival Jio Platforms made its stock-market debut on 28 October, listing at a 21.4% premium to its issue price of ₹1,119. It ended its first day with a market capitalization of ₹13 trillion, second only to that of its parent, Reliance Industries Ltd. The listing pushed Bharti Airtel to third place among India's most valuable companies.
Shares of Bharti Airtel ended 0.5% lower at ₹2,056.9 on the National Stock Exchange on Thursday, while the benchmark Nifty 50 rose 2.4%. The results were announced after market.
The addition was sharply lower than the 3.3 million subscribers the company added in the preceding quarter.
Airtel's average revenue per user (Arpu), a key measure of monthly revenue earned from each mobile customer, rose 2.7% sequentially and 6% year-on-year to ₹271 in the September quarter, from ₹264 in the preceding quarter.
The growth outpaced that of rival Reliance Jio, India's largest telecom operator, whose Arpu increased 1.5% quarter-on-quarter and 3.5% year-on-year to ₹218.8 in Q2FY27, from ₹215.6 in the previous quarter.
Analysts attributed Airtel's Arpu growth to several factors, including an extra day in the September quarter compared with the June quarter, upgrades to 4G and 5G from 2G, prepaid-to-postpaid conversions and higher data usage.
The company has also taken steps to push customers towards higher-value plans. In August, Airtel discontinued its entry-level ₹299 monthly prepaid plan, which offered 1GB of data a day. Subscribers seeking a daily data allowance for 28 days must now opt for the ₹349 plan, a 16.7% increase in the entry price, which offers 1.5GB of daily data and unlimited 5G access.x