Bharti Airtel’s (Airtel) consolidated net profit (after exceptional items) jumped 168 per cent year-on-year (yoy) to ₹3,593 crore, for the second quarter that ended September 30, as against ₹1,340.7 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal.
Consolidated revenue for Q2 FY25 in review also grew 12 per cent y-o-y to ₹41,473 crore as against ₹37,044 crore in the July-September period last fiscal.
India revenue for Q2 FY25 grew 17 per cent y-o-y to ₹31,561 crore, the company said adding that the mobile revenues grew 18.5 per cent y-o-y led by tariff repair and focus to premiumise the portfolio with quality customers.
India revenue up 8.7%
“We delivered another quarter of solid performance, with India revenue growing 8.7 per cent sequentially. Africa maintained strong revenue growth momentum as well with 7.7 per cent constant currency growth. The flow thru of tariff repair is in line with our expectation on average revenue per user (ARPU) increase and Sim consolidation. We reported industry leading ARPU of ₹233,” Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Airtel said.
Airtel’s ARPU in Q2 FY24 was ₹203. The company said it strengthened its leadership position in post-paid segment with sustained momentum in net additions of 0.8 million in Q2 FY25, thereby reaching a customer base of 24.7 million.
Vittal said the company’s focus on winning quality customers and driving premiumisation has helped add 4.2 million smartphone customers and the company continues to diversify portfolio strength and drive long-term growth. Airtel’s balance sheet also remains solid, supported by cash generation and continued deleveraging, he said.
“During the quarter, we prepaid another tranche of ₹8,465 crore of high cost spectrum dues. At the same time, we believe that industry needs further tariff repair for sustained investments given that return on capital employed (ROCE) for India is still only 11 per cent,” Vittal said.
The company rolled out additional 5,000 towers and around 15,200 mobile broadband stations in the quarter to enhance connectivity. Additionally, it “turbo charged” its networks with deployment of additional spectrum acquired in key circles in June 2024.
Airtel also said its Homes business recorded 17.3 per cent revenue growth y-o-y, on strong customer additions. During the quarter, it accelerated its fixed wireless access (FWA) expansion, which led to an addition of 5.83 lakh customers taking the total base of 8.6 million.
Similarly, Airtel Business delivered a revenue growth of 10.7 per cent y-o-y despite macro headwinds in the global segment.
“Domestic business continues to showcase healthy growth trends. Our emerging digital products are also seeing strong traction. Digital TV posts revenue of ₹759 crore with a customer base of 15.8 million,” the company added.
Shares of Airtel closed at ₹1,663.65 apiece on the BSE on Monday, down 0.05 per cent from the previous close.