Bharti Airtel Q4 net profit rises to ₹11,022 crore, ARPU steady at ₹245

Telecom major Bharti Airtel’s net profit in the January-March quarter (Q4) of FY25 rose 432 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ₹11,022 crore, as against ₹2,071.6 crore in the same period a year ago, as a result of telecom tariff increases in July last year.

 

Sequentially, the company’s net profit was 25.4 per cent lower than the ₹14,781 crore reported in the preceding quarter.

 

The company attributed the rise in profit to strong underlying momentum in India and sustained constant-currency growth in Africa. Consolidated revenue from operations stood at ₹47,876 crore in Q4, up 6.08 per cent from ₹45,129 crore in Q4FY24.

 

 

For the latest quarter, the company’s India revenue stood at ₹36,735 crore, up 28.8 per cent. Mobile service, which accounts for a significant portion of the revenue, grew 20.6 per cent, led by tariff hikes and efforts to premiumise the portfolio.

 

Net profit was also boosted due to an earlier exceptional gain that reaped benefits in Q4. In October last year, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had cleared Airtel’s proposal to increase its stake in Indus Towers to 50.5 per cent, following a buyback of shares by the telecom infrastructure company. 

 

Average revenue per user

 

The company’s average revenue per user (Arpu), a key performance metric for telecom firms, remained unchanged at ₹245 in Q4. As a result of the tariff hike in July last year, Arpu had seen an upward trajectory. Airtel’s Arpu remains the highest in the industry — higher than Jio’s ₹206.2 and Vodafone Idea’s ₹173 (the last reported numbers for both companies).

 

In Q4, Airtel’s customer base in India grew by 10 million to 424 million. By comparison, there had been 7 million additions in Q3, and a reduction by 2 million in Q2. Market leader Jio had gained 6.1 million customers in Q4, and 3.5 million in Q3, after suffering a loss of 10.9 million subscribers in Q2.

 

The telco’s consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) during the quarter stood at ₹25,404 crore, and Ebitda margin at 57.2 per cent.

 

“Our India mobile business grew by 1.3 per cent sequentially, despite two fewer days in the quarter. Growth was driven by premiumisation. We added 6.6 million smartphone users,” Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Vittal said.

 

Postpaid subscribers grow

 

Net addition in the postpaid segment stood at 0.6 million subscribers in Q4, the same as in Q3, and lower than the 0.8 million customers added in the three previous quarters. The total number of postpaid users stood at 25.9 million. Similarly, the company’s smartphone customer base rose by 24 million, or 9.5 per cent over a year ago — to now account for 78 per cent of all customers. The increase was slightly lower than the 25.2 million seen in Q3.

 

Mobile data consumption increased by 21.2 per cent annually, with consumption per customer rising to 25.1 GB per month in India. Airtel rolled out 3,300 new towers and 13,600 mobile broadband stations over the quarter.