- Sunil Mittal-led telco Bharti Airtel today released its results for the September quarter, with consolidated net profit growing 89% year-on-year to 2,145 crore.
- Average revenue per user increased sequentially by 3.8% to 190, in line with analyst expectations.
- Airtel said it plans to roll out 5G in all urban and key rural areas by March 2024.
Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Monday released its results for the September quarter, with consolidated net profit growing 89% year-over-year to 2,145 crore. On a sequential basis, profits increased 33.5%.
Airtel’s operating income also increased by 21.9% year-over-year to ₹34,527 crore. On a sequential basis, this is an increase of 5.2%.
| Particularities | Q2 FY23 | Q1 FY23 | Q2 FY22 |
| Revenue | ₹34,527 crores | ₹32,805 crore | ₹28,326 crore |
| Net profit | ₹2,145 crore | ₹1,607 crores | ₹1,134 crore |
| ARPU | ₹190 | ₹183 | ₹153 |
Source: Company Reports
Airtel also reported a 24% year-over-year increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) to ₹190 per month, thanks to feature phone users upgrading to smartphones, monetization of data and the telco’s focus on ‘quality customers’ .
On a sequential basis, the telco’s ARPU rose 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 businesses continued their strong growth rate, while the mobile ARPU expanded to 190 thanks to premiumization and deep customer understanding,” said Gopal Vittal, CEO and MD of Airtel.
Overall, Airtel saw its voice traffic increase 5.1% year-over-year, while data usage grew 20.9%. The total customer base increased by 4.8% to 501 million in 16 countries where Airtel is active.
The telecom provider’s subscriber base in India rose to 364 million in the September quarter, from 355 million a year ago. The 4G subscriber base grew by 17.8 million year over year, which now accounts for 64% of total subscribers.
‘Tariff correction is necessary’
Vittal also spoke about the need for tariff increases – something his rival and former Vodafone Idea CEO Ravinder Takkar has also spoken about.
“We remain concerned about the low return on capital employed (ROCE) our business is delivering due to the world’s lowest prices. Given the significant investment required to drive digital adoption in India, we believe a rate adjustment is needed,” said Vittal.
Airtel started rolling out 5G services earlier this month – dubbed Airtel 5G Plus, the services are currently live in eight cities in India. In publishing the results, the company said it will cover all urban and key rural areas across the country by March 2024.
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