Bharti Airtel Q3 results: Net profit rises 505% to Rs 14,781 crore

Airtel profit rings louder at Rs 15K cr on Indus boost

Bharti Airtel’s net profit for the October-December quarter (Q3) of 2024-25 rose by 505 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 14,781 crore, up from Rs 2,442 crore in the year-ago period. The massive boost in net profit was due to an exceptional gain from the consolidation of telecommunications (telecom) tower infrastructure firm Indus Towers into Airtel.

 

Attributable to the owners of the parent, the net profit was higher by 3.11 per cent sequentially compared to the Rs 3,593 crore registered in the second quarter (Q2).

 

In October last year, the Competition Commission of India 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. As a result, 42 days of Indus Towers consolidation featured in Airtel’s Q3 results.

 

 

The company cited strong underlying momentum in India and sustained constant currency growth in Africa as other reasons for the latest growth. Consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45,129 crore in Q3, up 19.07 per cent from Rs 37,899 crore in Q3 of 2023-24 (FY24). Other income for the quarter stood at Rs 469.7 crore.

 

Arpu grows fast

 

The company’s average revenue per user (Arpu), a key performance metric for telecom companies (telcos), rose 17.8 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 245, up from Rs 208 in Q2FY24. As a result of the tariff hike in July last year, Arpu has risen quickly. The latest Arpu is 5.15 per cent higher sequentially and remains the highest in the industry, surpassing Reliance Jio’s Rs 203.3 and Vodafone Idea’s Rs 156 (as last reported by both companies).

 

In Q3, Airtel’s customer base in India recovered from the shock of the tariff hikes, rising by 7 million to 414 million. In the preceding quarter, it had shrunk by 2 million. Market leader Jio gained 3.5 million customers in Q3, after a loss of 10.9 million subscribers in Q2. Airtel's monthly churn reduced to 2.5 per cent, higher than Jio’s 2 per cent.

 

Airtel’s revenue from its India business for Q3 was Rs 34,654 crore, up 24.6 per cent Y-o-Y. Mobile services in India, which account for a sizeable portion of the revenue at Rs 26,268 crore, grew by 21.4 per cent annually. 

 

The telco’s consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) for the quarter was Rs 19,850 crore in India, with an Ebitda margin of 57.3 per cent.

 

“India revenue (excluding Indus) grew by 4.8 per cent sequentially. India mobile delivered strong performance led by the residual flow-through of tariff repair and underlying levers of premiumisation,” said Managing Director Gopal Vittal.

 

Postpaid subscribers grow

 

The net addition in the premier postpaid segment stood at 600,000 subscribers in the latest quarter, lower than the 800,000 customers added in each of the previous three quarters. The total number of postpaid users stood at 25.3 million. Similarly, smartphone customers rose by 25.2 million, or 10.3 per cent Y-o-Y, now making up 78 per cent of all customers.

 

Mobile data consumption increased by 23.2 per cent annually, with consumption per customer rising to 24.5 gigabytes per month in India. Airtel rolled out 5,200 new towers and 16,300 mobile broadband stations during the quarter to further strengthen network coverage.

 

Airtel's home business added 674,000 new users in Q3. The pace of customer expansion has steadily risen, with 583,000 and 348,000 new users in the preceding two quarters. It had a total base of 9.2 million users. A major bet for the telco, the home business saw an 18.7 per cent growth.