BackBharti Airtel Q2 results: Profit up 89% to ₹2,145 cr; ARPU rises to ₹190
Bharti Airtel Q2 results: The company's revenue from operations rose 21.9% year-on-year to ₹34,527 crore in the quarter under review, backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio and crossing 500 million customers globally
PremiumTelecom major Bharti Airtel on Monday posted a lower-than-expected quarterly profit, flagging a headwind for the telco operator, as it begins to roll out 5G services across India. Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of ₹2,145 crore for the quarter ending 30 September, 2022. This is an increase of 89% when compared with ₹1,134 crore in corresponding quarter of last year.
On sequential basis, Airtel reported a 33.5% rise in consolidated net profit for the quarter.
The company's revenue from operations rose 21.9% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹34,527 crore in the quarter under review (Q2FY23), backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio and crossing 500 million customers globally. It had reported a revenue of ₹28,326 crore in the same period last year, the telco said in a regulatory filing.
Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to ₹190 in Q2FY23 from ₹183 in Q1FY23.
The company missed the ₹2,544 crore average profit estimated by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.
Consolidated EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization jumped 6.7% for the quarter to ₹17,721 crore, while the operating margin improved to 51.3% from 50.6% on QoQ basis.
"We have delivered yet another quarter with competitive revenue growth and improved margins. Our consolidated revenue grew sequentially by 5.3% and EBITDA margin expanded to 51.3%. The consistency of our execution is driven by the strength and resilience of our portfolio," said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia.
Vittal further said, "Our B2B and Homes business continued their strong growth momentum while Mobile ARPU expanded to 190 on the back of premiumization and deep customer understanding."
Airtel 5G service
Airtel recently said its 5G services have gone live in eight cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi. The customer availing 5G services will have to pay as per their existing 4G plan.
"We are now rolling out 5G and are confident that Airtel 5G Plus will deliver the best experience in India while being kinder to the environment. I do believe that 5G technology has the potential of bringing tremendous innovation into India. At the same time we remain concerned about the low ROCE that our business delivers due to pricing that is the lowest in the world. Given the large investments required to drive digital adoption in India we believe there is a need for tariff correction," Vittal added.
Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Mittal had announced launch of 5G service in 8 cities on 1 October.
At present, 5G models of Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Realme and OnePlus are compatible with Airtel 5G Plus service.
The compatible models include Samsung's flagship devices including Fold series, Galaxy S 22 series, Samsung M32, iPhone 12 series and later models, Realme 8s 5G, Realme X7 series, Realme narzo series, Vivo X50 onwards smartphones, Vivo IQOO series, Oppo Reno5G Pro and other device in same series launched later, OnePlus 8 and beyond smartphones etc.
Mobile subscribers will get up to 600 megabit per second speed in 5G network during the launch phase and handsets are expected to work at par with professional computers for accessing apps and data processing, according to industry players.
On Monday, ahead of the results, Airtel's scrip on NSE closed 1.85% higher at ₹832.00 apiece. So far this year, shares of Airtel have rallied 19.4%.
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