India's second-largest telecom operator posted strong quarterly growth as higher tariffs, premium subscriber gains and heavier data usage lifted margins across mobile and home broadband services.
Bharti Airtel reported a 37.3% increase in first-quarter profit as higher tariffs, subscriber upgrades to costlier plans and rising data use supported growth in both earnings and average revenue per user. Consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June 30 rose to 81.67 billion rupees from 59.48 billion rupees a year earlier, while revenue climbed 18.4% to 585.39 billion rupees. Profit before tax increased 34% to 141.26 billion rupees and EBITDA rose 19% to 335.99 billion rupees, lifting the EBITDA margin to 57.4% from 56.9%. Airtel's mobile ARPU rose to 264 rupees from 250 rupees a year earlier and 257 rupees in the March quarter, helped by growth in postpaid users, smartphone customers and its 4G and 5G base. India mobile subscribers reached 376.5 million, with 3.27 million net additions in the quarter. The postpaid base grew 12.9% to 30 million, smartphone users increased to 303.2 million and Airtel's 4G and 5G customer base stood at 301.8 million, or 80.5% of total mobile subscribers. Mobile data traffic rose 36% year-on-year to 31,062 million GB, while monthly usage per customer climbed to 34.4 GB from 26.9 GB. Home services customers increased 33.9% to 14.69 million, although broadband net additions slowed to 473,000 from 1.14 million in the March quarter. In digital TV, the subscriber base was steady at 16 million and net additions slowed sharply to 6,000 from 570,000 in the previous quarter. Airtel also increased sales and marketing spending by 25% year-on-year to 36.93 billion rupees as competition in India's telecom market remains intense.