Airtel Q2 net profit jumped 31% to ₹8,887 crore on premium user growth

India’s second-largest telecommunications (telecom) operator Bharti Airtel reported a 31 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) rise in consolidated net profit at ₹8,887 crore for the second quarter of 2026-27 (Q2FY27). 

However, the company missed estimates due to rising network costs despite the addition of more high-paying premium customers. The figure was ₹6,791 crore in Q2FY26. 

Larger subscriber additions reflected in revenues, which rose 16.7 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹60,887 crore, beating estimates. Sequentially, revenues rose 4 per cent from ₹58,539 crore in Q1FY27, while net profit increased from ₹8,167 crore. However, costs of network operation and maintenance rose 11 per cent to ₹11,214 crore while licence fees rose 13 per cent to ₹4,320 crore, pushing up expenses by 15 per cent to ₹ 25,931 crore for the quarter.   

Airtel spent ₹2,826 crore to acquire a strategic land parcel for its data-centre expansion, which will be one of its major growth levers going forward, along with financial services. 

“Our investment in a strategic land parcel during the quarter marks another important step towards realising our ambition of building 1 gigawatt (Gw) of data-centre capacity. In financial services, early traction following the commercial launch has been very encouraging, with our digital platforms, advanced data analytics, and disciplined operating model providing a strong foundation to scale the business. We continue to maintain a strong and resilient balance sheet, anchored by robust cash generation and disciplined capital allocation,” Bharti Airtel Executive Vice-Chairman Gopal Vittal said. 

The carrier’s India business reported a revenue of ₹42,308 crore in Q2FY27, up 9.4 per cent Y-o-Y from ₹38,690 crore, and up 2.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) from ₹41,214 crore, driven by premiumisation of its mobile portfolio and strong momentum in its homes and enterprise businesses. India mobile revenue increased by 10.1 per cent Y-o-Y, led by higher Arpu (average revenue per user) and strong growth in smartphone data customer additions. Mobile services, which account for 73 per cent of total revenue, generated ₹30,943 crore. 

The telco’s net debt fell to ₹88,277 crore in Q2FY27 from ₹1.26 trillion a year earlier, excluding lease obligations. On an inclusive basis, net debt reduced to ₹1.6 trillion in Q2FY27 from ₹1.9 trillion in Q1FY27. 

The consolidated capex of the carrier, including India capex of ₹9,908 crore, stood at ₹12,467 crore for the quarter. 

Airtel’s Arpu, a key profitability metric for telecom operators, increased to ₹271 per month from ₹264 in Q1FY27, up 2.7 per cent. On a Y-o-Y basis, Arpu was up 5.9 per cent from ₹256 in Q2FY26. 

Airtel’s Arpu remained higher than Reliance Jio’s ₹218.8 per month. The increase was driven by strong net additions, particularly in the high-revenue postpaid segment, where Airtel added a record 1.2 million customers during the quarter, taking its total postpaid base to more than 31.2 million. 

“Our postpaid momentum remained strong with record-high net customer additions of 1.2 million. We added 2.9 million smartphone data customers, with continued improvement of our industry-leading Arpu at ₹271. The homes business saw 676,000 customer additions, driven by disciplined customer acquisition and continued progress on our convergence strategy,” Vittal said. 

Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 17.8 per cent Y-o-Y to ₹35,240 crore in Q2FY27, beating estimates. India Ebitda stood at ₹25,729 crore. The consolidated Ebitda margin was 57.9 per cent, while the India Ebitda margin reached 60.8 per cent. 

Airtel’s India subscriber base rose 10.9 per cent Y-o-Y to more than 498.6 million as of September, remaining behind market leader Jio’s 542.2 million. 

Its smartphone data customer base grew by 18.8 million Y-o-Y to 304.6 million, accounting for 80 per cent of its total customer base. Its total customer base, including Africa, grew to 692.5 million. Average data consumption per customer on Airtel’s India network rose 28.8 per cent to 36.5 gigabyte (GB) in Q2FY27 from 28.3 GB in Q2FY26.