Bharti Airtel reports 89% YoY increase in Q2 net profit to ₹2,145 crore

• Sunil Mittal-led telco Bharti Airtel today posted September-quarter results with its consolidated net profit growing 89% YoY to ₹2,145 crore.
  
• Its average revenue per user rose 3.8% sequentially to ₹190, in line with analyst expectations.
  
• Airtel said that it intends to roll out 5G across all urban and key rural areas by March 2024.
  

Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday announced its September-quarter results that saw consolidated net profit growing 89% year-on-year to ₹2,145 crore. On a sequential basis, its profit increased 33.5%.

Airtel’s revenue from operations also increased 21.9% YoY to ₹34,527 crore. On a sequential basis, this is an increase of 5.2%.


Source: Company reports

Airtel also reported a 24% YoY increase in the average revenue per user (ARPU) to ₹190 per month, thanks to feature phone users upgrading to smartphones, data monetisation and the telco’s focus on ‘quality’ customers.

On a sequential basis, the telco’s ARPU increased 3.8%, in line with analyst expectations.

“The consistency of our execution is driven by the strength and resilience of our portfolio. Our B2B and Homes business continued their strong growth momentum while Mobile ARPU expanded to 190 on the back of premiumization and deep customer understanding,” said Gopal Vittal, Airtel CEO and MD.

Overall, Airtel saw its voice traffic increase 5.1% YoY, while data usage rose 20.9%. Its total customer base increased 4.8% to 501 million across 16 countries that Airtel operates in.

The telco’s subscriber base in India increased to 364 million in the September quarter, from 355 million a year ago. Its 4G subscriber base grew 17.8 million YoY, now accounting for 64% of its total subscribers.

‘There is a need for tariff correction’

Vittal also talked about the need for tariff hikes – something that his rival and former Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar has also talked about.

“We remain concerned about the low return on capital employed (ROCE) that our business delivers due to pricing that is the lowest in the world. Given the large investments required to drive digital adoption in India we believe there is a need for tariff correction,” Vittal said.

Airtel started rolling out 5G services earlier this month – dubbed Airtel 5G Plus, the services are currently live in eight cities in India. In its earnings release, the company said it will cover all urban and key rural areas across the country by March 2024.

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