Bharti Airtel Q3 net profit rises 91.5% to Rs 1,588 cr; ARPU up at Rs 193

Revenue growth, 4G customer addition power strong result

Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net profit jumped 91.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 1,588 crore in the October-December quarter (third quarter, or Q3) of 2022-23, led by revenue growth and 4G customer addition.

In the same quarter last year, Airtel posted a net profit of Rs 830 crore. Net profit was, however, lower on a sequential basis due to higher operating expenses and licence fee-related provision of Rs 669 crore.

Airtel, which launched the commercial 5G services last October, saw a 19.9 per cent rise in its revenue to Rs 35,804 crore.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 1.5 per cent sequentially and 18.4 per cent YoY to Rs 193.

At the operating level, the company registered 24.8 per cent YoY growth in profit to Rs 18,601 crore, while the operating margin widened 2.1 percentage points to 52 per cent.

The company discontinued its minimum recharge plan (Rs 99) in two states in December. This was extended to seven states in January. With this, its entry-level plan starts from Rs 155.

Airtel continued to gain market share in the 4G segment. The company added 6.4 million 4G customers in Q3. Its total number of 4G customers now stands at over 216 million. They account for 65 per cent of its India customer base. The average data usage per customer per month remained flat sequentially at 20.3 gigabyte.

While Airtel has seen better sequential growth in its ARPU, compared to Reliance Jio, the latter saw better growth in data usage per customer in Q3.

Airtel said it added 8,600 towers in Q3 to augment its coverage and took initiatives to improve network quality and customer experience.

Capital expenditure for Q3 was Rs 9,313 crore, compared with Rs 7,416 crore in the July-September quarter.

“We have delivered another quarter of consistent and competitive growth across all our businesses. Revenue grew sequentially by 3.7 per cent, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation margins expanded to 52 per cent. Our strategy of winning quality customers helped us add 6.4-million 4G customers and exit the quarter with industry-leading ARPU of Rs 193,” said Gopal Vittal, managing director, Bharti Airtel.

“Postpaid, enterprise, homes, as well as our Africa business, sustained their momentum, while the direct-to-home business showed signs of growth in an industry that continues to be under pressure. Our 5G roll-out is on track to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024,” he added.