BackBharti Airtel Q1 Results: Net profit flat at ₹1,612 crore, revenue up 14%; ARPU improves to ₹200
Bharti Airtel Q1 Results: The telecom major's revenue from operations during the first quarter of current fiscal stood at ₹37,440 crore, registering a rise of 14 per cent, compared to ₹32,850 crore in the year-ago period.
PremiumBharti Airtel Q1 Results: Bharti Airtel announced its April-June quarter results for fiscal 2023-24 (Q1FY24) on August 3, reporting a net profit of ₹1,612 crore, which came nearly flat compared to ₹1,607 crore in the corresponding period last year. The telecom major's revenue from operations during the first quarter of current fiscal stood at ₹37,440 crore, registering a rise of 14 per cent, compared to ₹32,850 crore in the year-ago period.
On the operating front, the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) during the June quarter grew 19 per cent to ₹19,746 crore, while EBITDA margins grew 277 basis points to 53.7 per cent year-on-year (YoY). The net debt-EBITDA ratio (annualized), including the impact of leases was 2.63 times by the end of June quarter.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) per month, a crucial metric used by telecom companies to measure revenue generation, increased 9.28 per cent to ₹200, compared to ₹183 in the corresponding period last year, on the back of sustained focus on acquiring quality customers and improved realizations on account of premiumization.
Airtel business highlights
Airtel's mobile revenues grew by 12.4 per cent YoY on account of improved realisation as well as strong 4G customer additions during the year. The telecom company's board announced that it will conduct its 28th annual general meeting (AGM) on August 24, 2023 at 11 am through video conferencing.
Airtel strengthened its leadership position in the postpaid segment with the highest ever net addition of 0.8 million in the June quarter, reaching a customer base of 40.4 million.
“We continue to garner a strong share of 4G customers in the market and added 24.5 Mn 4G data customers to our network over last year, an increase of 11.9 percent YoY. We continue to deliver industry leading ARPU along with growing average data usage per data customer at 21.1 GBs/month," said Airtel in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges.
The homes business segment delivered a revenue growth of 25.4 per cent YoY on harnessing the growing demand of high-speed, reliable broadband in India. Airtel saw 413000 customer additions during the June quarter to reach to a total base of 6.5 million.
Digital TV saw a customer base of 15.9 million customer base at the end of the quarter. ‘’The company’s focus on market specific strategy coupled with simplified pricing and convergence portfolio ensured that the business continues to hold its market share,'' said Airtel in its exchange filing.
During the June quarter, Airtel was hit by the foreign exchange loss due to Nigerian currency devaluation. For the Africa business, the company's revenue in constant currency rose 20 per cent YoY, with an EBITDA margin of 49 per cent, up 83 bps year-on-year. The customer base of Africa stands at 143.1 million, according to the company's statement.
“We have delivered yet another quarter of strong and competitive growth across all our businesses. Our consolidated revenue grew sequentially by 4.0 percent, and EBITDA margin expanded to 52.7 percent, underscoring the simplicity and execution of our strategy," said Gopal Vittal, MD, Bharti Airtel.
“Our focus on winning quality customers and driving premiumization has helped us add 5.6 million new 4G customers and the highest ever postpaid customers in any one quarter. We exit the quarter with an industry leading ARPU of ₹200. Homes, Enterprise and our digital businesses continue to exhibit strong growth momentum, reflecting the resilience and strength of our overall portfolio,'' added Vittal.
Additionally, the telecom firm made a part prepayment of ₹8,024 crore towards liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in the 2015 auction.
Ahead of announcing the Q1FY24 results, shares of Bharti Airtel settled 0.66 per cent lower at ₹871.95 apiece on the BSE.
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