Bharti Airtel Q1 FY25 profit soars 158%

6 Aug 2024 , 10:42 AM

Bharti Airtel reported a Q1 FY25 net profit increase of 158% YoY to ₹4,160 Crore, surpassing expectations. Exceptional items significantly contributed to the profit, with a consolidated net profit before exceptional items at ₹2,925 Crore.

A net exceptional gain of ₹735 Crore included a ₹1,399.1 Crore gain from a favorable Supreme Court judgement regarding the waiver of interest on adjusted revenue-linked variable license fees payable to DoT.

The gain also included ₹274 Crore from the divestment of Airtel Lanka, offset by a ₹938.7 Crore foreign exchange loss due to currency devaluation in group subsidiaries.

Airtel’s Q1 revenue grew 2.8% YoY to ₹38,506 Crore, limited by currency devaluation in Africa. Average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 5.5% YoY to ₹211, up from ₹200 last year.

Airtel’s subscriber base reached 409 million in the quarter, with a 29.7 million YoY and 6.7 million QoQ increase in the 4G/5G data customer base, representing 73% of the overall mobile customer base.

Postpaid net adds were 0.8 million, and mobile data consumption grew by 26% YoY, with 23.7 GB per customer per month.

EBITDA for the quarter rose 1% YoY to ₹19,944 Crore, with a margin of 51.8%, shrinking by 90 basis points YoY. EBIT declined 7.2% YoY to ₹9,355 Crore.

Capex for the quarter was ₹6,781 Crore, down 27% YoY; mobile services capex in India declined 38% to ₹4,848 Crore, while home services capex increased 42% to ₹707 Crore.

Gopal Vittal, MD of Airtel, emphasized strong cost efficiencies and operating leverage, with Africa showing strong revenue growth in constant currency terms.

The homes business grew revenue by 17.6% YoY, adding 348,000 customers to a total base of 8.0 million. Airtel expanded its home-pass network and WiFi services to 1,317 cities. Airtel Business saw an 8.3% YoY revenue growth, driven by the domestic portfolio. Digital TV revenue remained stable with a customer base of 16.3 million, growing 5.0% YoY.

In the recent spectrum auction, Airtel renewed expiring spectrum in 6 circles and strengthened its sub-gigahertz and mid-band holdings by investing ₹6,857 Crore.

Vittal highlighted the positive impact of tariff adjustments on the industry’s financial health, emphasizing the need for over ₹300 ARPU for financial stability.