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Bharti Airtel profit rises 31% to ₹8,888 crore as ARPU climbs to ₹271
India's second largest telecom company grew revenue 17% to ₹60,878 crore in the September quarter, though profit came in below analysts' estimates.
Key points
- Bharti Airtel's September quarter profit rose 31% to ₹8,888 crore.
- Average revenue per user climbed to ₹271 from ₹256 a year ago.
- The company added a record 1.2 million postpaid customers in the quarter.
Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a 31% rise in quarterly profit to ₹8,888 crore, as more customers moved to higher-value plans and its earnings per user climbed again.
The figures for the July to September quarter came after the market closed. Consolidated net profit of ₹8,887.5 crore was also up about 9% from ₹8,167 crore in the April to June quarter, but it fell short of the ₹9,209 crore that analysts had expected.
Revenue from operations rose to ₹60,878 crore, against ₹52,145 crore a year earlier, a gain of about 17% in a year. On the quarter, revenue grew 4% from ₹58,539 crore.
Higher earnings per user
The number most watched in Indian telecom moved up again. Average revenue per user, or ARPU, rose to ₹271 from ₹256 a year ago, keeping Airtel ahead of its rivals on the measure.
Gopal Vittal, executive vice chairman, called it “another quarter of consistent performance with consolidated revenues of ₹60,878 crore”. He said growth in India mobile was “backed by our strategy of portfolio premiumization and winning quality customers”.
India revenue reached ₹42,308 crore, up 9.4% from a year ago, with mobile revenue in the country rising 10.1%. The company added a record 1.2 million postpaid customers, 2.9 million smartphone data users and 676,000 customers in its homes broadband business.
“Our new growth engines continue to gain momentum,” Vittal said, adding that the balance sheet stayed strong on the back of cash generation and careful spending.
Margins and spending
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 5% on the quarter to ₹34,946 crore, and the margin improved to 57.4% from 57%.
Capital spending in the quarter was ₹12,467 crore, of which ₹9,908 crore went into India. Airtel also put ₹2,826 crore into a land parcel to expand its data centre business. It added 497 towers and 11,684 mobile broadband base stations in the three months.
Airtel shares closed 0.52% lower at ₹2,056.90 on the National Stock Exchange on Thursday, before the numbers were out. The stock’s first reaction to the results will come when trading opens on Friday.