The telecom operator reported a 5.4 per cent sequential growth in consolidated revenue from operations to Rs. 28,326 crore for the reported quarter, which was also above analysts’ expectations.
Analysts had expected the company to report a consolidated net profit of Rs. 1,141 crore and revenues of Rs. 27,811 crore for the reported quarter.
The company’s bottom line performance in the quarter was boosted by a one-time gain of Rs. 722 crore incurred from transfer of spectrum to Reliance Jio Infocomm during the quarter.
The Indian mobile services business reported a strong 6.2 per cent on-quarter growth in revenues to Rs. 15,191 crore. At the same time, the Africa mobile business generated growth of 5.1 per cent in the quarter for the company.
The strong topline and bottom line performance of the company were made stellar by a firm operating show in the reported quarter. Bharti Airtel’s average revenue per user in the quarter jumped to Rs. 153 as against Rs. 146 in the previous quarter.
The company reported an over 6 per cent sequential growth in consolidated operating profit to Rs. 14,018 crore, which was sharply above analysts’ expectations. The telecom company’s margins expanded 40 basis points on quarter to 49.5 per cent.
“Our strategy of focusing on quality customers has been validated by the strong price flow and ARPU increase that we have seen in our wireless business. The step-up in performance of our enterprise and homes business reflects the resilience and strength of our overall portfolio,” said Gopal Vittal, managing director and chief executive officer – India and South Asia at Bharti Airtel.
Vittal further said that Bharti Airtel’s India business no longer has any bank debt and will be exploring more options to maintain comfortable leverage and manage costs.
Besides mobile, Airtel’s other business also showed signs of progress in the quarter with the Airtel Homes business seeing the highest ever quarterly addition of users at 467,000 in the September quarter.
At the same time, Airtel’s payments bank also turned profitable in the reported quarter for the first time ever reflecting that the success of the telecom operator’s branch services.
On the mobile business front, Bharti Airtel said it added 8.1 million new 4G customers in the reported quarter to take its total tally to 192.5 million at the end of the quarter.
Shares of Bharti Airtel ended 0.4 per cent higher at Rs. 715.6 on the National Stock Exchange.
