Bharti Airtel Q1 FY25 Results: Profit more than doubles to Rs 4,160 crore vs Q4, ARPU improves by Rs 3; catch key takeaways here

Bharti Airtel's consolidated net profit came in at Rs 4,159.9 crore for the June quarter, more than double compared with Rs 2,071.6 crore for the previous three months, according to a regulatory filing.   

Its overall revenue increased 2.4 per cent sequentially to Rs 38,506.4 crore, according to a regulatory filing. 

Bharti Airtel's India business registered quarterly revenue of Rs 29,046 crore, driven by its strong and consistent performance across the portfolio, according to the company. 

According to Zee Business research, Bharti Airtel's June-quarter net profit was estimated at Rs 3,800 crore and revenue at Rs 38,600 crore. 

Revenue from the telecom company's mobile services India unit increased 2.1 per cent sequentially to Rs 22,527.4 crore. 

The segment was driven by strong 4G/5G customer additions, improvement in its customer mix, and an increase in its average revenue per user (ARPU) - a key measure of profitability for telecom service providers, according to Bharti Airtel. 

Revenue from Bharti Airtel's mobile services Africa business increased 3.7 per cent to Rs 9,636.9 crore on a quarter-on-quarter basis. 

Revenue from its mobile services business across South Asia stood at Rs 94.1 crore for the June quarter, a sequential decline of 2.1 per cent. 

Bharti Airtel clocked revenue growth across most segments. 

Revenue from its 'Airtel Business' unit increased 0.3 per cent to Rs 5,476.5 crore, driven growth in its underlying domestic portfolio, while that from its homes services and digital TV units grew 3.9 per cent and 1.0 per cent, respectively, according to Bharti Airtel.

Bharti Airtel logs Rs 19,944 crore in its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the April-June period.

The telecom company said its quarterly margin was at 51.8 per cent for the first quarter of FY25. 

Zee Business analysts had pegged Bharti Airtel's June-quarter EBITDA at Rs 20,100 crore and margin at 52.1 per cent. 

Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user - a key measure of revenue for telecom service providers determining the revenue generated from each subscriber - improved to Rs 211 in the quarter ended June 30, 2024, as against Rs 209 for the previous three months and Rs 200 for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, according to the company. 

Zee Business analysts had pegged the telecom firm's ARPU at Rs 211.

"Q1FY25 was yet another steady quarter with India revenue growing at 1.9 per cent sequentially and sustained EBITDA margins expansion to 53.7 per cent. Our stringent focus on driving cost efficiencies is reflected in strong operating leverage. Africa continues to deliver strong underlying constant currency revenue growth. India operations added 6.7 million smartphone customers and reported an improved ARPU of Rs 211," said Gopal Vittal, MD, Bharti Airtel. 

"Our postpaid strategy continues to yield results with 0.8 million net adds. During the quarter, we accelerated pace on FWA services expansion across key towns. Our Wifi services (FTTH and FWA) are now available in over 1,300 cities. Our digital portfolio is shaping up well and it is geared for accelerated growth to add strength to our already diversified portfolio."

"We continue to believe that industry needs over Rs 300 ARPU at the minimum for financial stability," Vittal added. 

Bharti Airtel said its 4G and 5G data customer base grew by 6.7 million sequentially in the June quarter, accounting for 73 per cent of its overall mobile user base. 

Also, it net added 0.8 million users to its postpaid subscriber base during the three-month period. 

Bharti Airtel's mobile data consumption improved to 23.7 GB per month in the April-June period from 22.6 GB in the previous quarter, according to the company. 

Bharti Airtel net added 0.8 million subscribers in its postpaid segment, taking its customer base to 24 million.

It added 29.7 million subscribers to its smartphone segment.

Bharti Airtel said it rolled out additional 6.3k towers and 15.5k mobile broadband stations in the quarter in order to "provide seamless connectivity and superior network experience" to its customers. 

Earlier on Monday, Bharti Airtel shares ended 1.9 per cent lower at Rs 1,466 apiece on BSE amid a market-wide sell-off on Dalal Street that left benchmark indices Nifty50 and Sensex weaker by 2.7 per cent each. 

As of August 5, Bharti Airtel shares have already rewarded investors with a 45 per cent return so far in 2024, sharply outperforming gains of 10.6 per cent and 35.4 per cent in the Nifty50 and S&P BSE Telecom indices, respectively.