Airtel's Q4 PAT declines 11% QoQ to Rs 759 crore; ARPU falls to Rs 145

The company's consolidated EBITDA stood at Rs 12,583 crore for the quarter under review

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 759 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 (Q4FY21). The company posted a loss of Rs 5,237 crore during the same period, a year ago.

Sequentially, the consolidated net profit declined 11 per cent. It was Rs 853 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY21).

Its revenue from operations rose 12 per cent to Rs 25,747 crore for the March quarter. It was Rs 23,018 crore in the year-ago period. On a sequential basis, revenues dipped 3 per cent from Rs 26,517 crore.

Mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) saw a dip on quarter-on-quarter basis during the March quarter to Rs 145. It was Rs 166 in Q3FY21.

At the operating level, the company's consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at Rs 12,583 crore for the quarter under review, while EBITDA margin came in at 48.9 per cent, an improvement of 647 bps year-on-year.

"Relentless focus on customer obsession that has allowed us to deliver another consistent quarter in terms of performance. Our mobile revenues grew at 19.1 per cent YoY backed by 13.7 million 4G customer additions. We are seeing strong momentum in our homes business with 274,000 net adds. The Enterprise segment delivered double digit growth. Our digital assets continue to scale and we are beginning to see strong traction in monetisation of these assets," said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO of Bharti Airtel.

Commenting on the challenges posed by the second wave of coronavirus, Vittal said: "We recognize the criticality of our role as a telecom operator in keeping our customers and nation connected in such times. Our focus continues to be on delivering uninterrupted services and great end user experience while ensuring safety of our employees and partners."

The revenues from India business were up 9.6 per cent year-on-year at Rs 18,338 crore. Meanwhile, revenues from mobile services rose 19.1 per cent YoY, on a comparable basis, led by strong customer additions.

Ahead of the results, Airtel's scrip traded lower by 2.25 per cent to close at Rs 547.80 apiece on NSE.