Airtel profit surges 33% to Rs 9,015 crore in Q2, outpacing Jio in ARPU growth
Bharti Airtel has reported a profit surge to ₹9,015 crore in the September quarter. Average revenue per user increased to ₹271, widening the lead over Reliance Jio. The company missed analyst profit estimates due to high network operating costs impacting margins. Bharti Airtel added 1.2 million postpaid customers during this quarter but faced subscriber growth challenges. Overall revenue rose…
Bharti Airtel reported a substantial 33% increase in profits for the September quarter, reaching ₹9,015 crore. This growth was driven by a rapid shift towards postpaid plans and an increase in the average revenue per user (ARPU) to ₹271, which outpaced Reliance Jio's growth. However, the company missed analyst profit estimates for the quarter, as gains from subscriber additions and upgrades to higher-priced plans were counterbalanced by higher network operating costs.
Analysts had expected a net profit of ₹9,955 crore, while JPMorgan's estimate was ₹9,146 crore. Overall, Bharti Airtel's consolidated net income before exceptional items saw an 11.9% increase, rising to ₹6,792 crore from ₹8,057 crore in Q1. This surpassed Jio Platforms' profit of ₹8,387 crore. The company's revenue grew by 16.7% year-on-year to ₹60,878 crore, an increase of 4% compared to the previous quarter.
Bharti Airtel's India revenue expanded by 9.4% to ₹42,308 crore, while its African operations grew by 25.7%, with constant currency growth of 20.6%. The company's ARPU increased from ₹256 in the same quarter last year to ₹271, marking a 5.9% annual growth, compared to Jio's 3.5% growth, whose ARPU rose to ₹218.8 from ₹211.4. Bharti Airtel's strategy focuses on user upgrades, adding a record 1.2 million postpaid customers, expanding its postpaid base to 31.2 million and data users to 81% of its mobile base.
India mobile revenue increased by 10.1% year-on-year and 3.4% sequentially to ₹30,943 crore. Executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal attributed this growth to premiumisation and attracting quality customers; however, subscriber growth lagged, with the India mobile base up by only 716,000 to 377.2 million subscribers. Monthly churn rose to 2.9% from 2.6%, while India user base growth was 6.8 million to 498.7 million, trailing Jio's 9.1 million subscriber additions.
Bharti Airtel's EBITDA increased by 18% to ₹35,240 crore, with a margin of 57.9% compared to Jio's 54.1%, though the business mix differs.
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