Airtel posts stellar Q2 results; all eyes on tariff hikes now

Consequently, on a consolidated basis, net profit surged 300% sequentially to ₹1,134 crore for Q2FY22. But adjusted for this one-time spectrum sale gain, net profit was just ₹594 crore.

Consolidated revenue on a sequential basis was up 6% at ₹28,326 crore and Ebitda of ₹14,018 crore was up 6.2% compared to April-June. Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

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Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd said consolidated Ebitda growth was driven by a steady rise in India Mobile Ebitda, and market share wins and better growth versus Reliance Jio. “Ebitda is up 25% since last year, highlighting that the healthy subs/ARPU equation is showing gains —all this without any tariff hike," said the Motilal report. Ebitda margin was flat, though.

Revenue from its India business increased 5.64% and the 6.19% sequential growth in mobile revenue trumped that of rival Reliance Jio, point out analysts at IIFL Securities Ltd. Its average revenue per user (Arpu) was in line with estimates at ₹153 compared to ₹146 in a quarter ago.

Analysts also point out that its subscriber additions at 2.2 million were lower than the 12–13 million additions seen in the previous fiscal. This was due to tariff hikes, which increased the churn and SIM card consolidation in the market.

“Bharti’s data traffic and data subscribers are nearly half that of RJio, with the capacity gap being far smaller; this highlights a better network experience," added the Motilal Oswal report. Meanwhile, a key trigger for the stock now remains the much-awaited tariff hike.