Airtel’s prepaid mobile customers must now make a minimum payment of Rs 155 for approximately a month of service, following a 56% rate increase implemented by the company in January 2023 (Bharti Airtel Q3 results).
On Monday, Bharti Airtel reported a 54% increase in consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 2,442.2 crore in the December quarter. This growth can be attributed primarily to the increase in high-value customers.
Bharti Airtel’s Managing Director, Gopal Vittal, has suggested the necessity of another hike in mobile service rates. The company’s return on investment remains relatively low at 9.4 percent (Bharti Airtel Q3 results).
Additionally, Airtel’s prepaid mobile customers are now obligated to pay a minimum of Rs 155 for approximately a month of service, following a 56% rate hike implemented by the company in January 2023.
According to a regulatory filing on Monday, the company recorded a profit of Rs 1,588.2 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year (Bharti Airtel Q3 results). Despite the devaluation of African currencies during the quarter, consolidated revenue from operations for the third quarter of the current fiscal increased by 5.8 percent to Rs 37,899.5 crore from Rs 35,804.4 crore in the same period last year.
In a statement, Bharti Airtel Managing Director Gopal Vittal noted that revenue from the Indian business sustained its momentum, growing sequentially by 3 percent. However, the consolidated revenue was affected by the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira and Malawian Kwacha.
The total customer base of Bharti Airtel expanded by about 8 percent year-on-year to 55.1 crore in the December quarter, with the Indian customer base reaching 39.7 crore, marking a 7.5 percent increase.
The telecom company’s customer base in Africa experienced a growth of 9.1 percent, reaching 15.17 crore, while its customer base in India saw a marginal decline to 30 lakh.
Airtel’s revenue in India witnessed a year-on-year increase of 11.4 percent, reaching Rs 27,811 crore during the quarter (Bharti Airtel Q3 results). The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), a crucial metric for telecom operators’ growth, in the country also rose by 7.7 percent, reaching Rs 208 compared to Rs 193 a year ago.
Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel’s Managing Director, stated, “We remain on course with our strategy of premiumization that helped us add 7.4 million 4G/5G customers and exit the quarter with an industry-leading ARPU of Rs 208. Even at this ARPU, our return on capital employed, however, continues to be low at 9.4 percent. To ensure industry health, tariff repair is extremely critical.”
During the quarter, Bharti Airtel’s capital expenditure amounted to Rs 9,274 crore, with Rs 7,756 crore allocated for India and Rs 1,515 crore for Africa (Bharti Airtel Q3 results).
Airtel reinforced its network coverage by deploying approximately 12.3k towers in the quarter, contributing to a total of around 45k towers rolled out in the past 12 months. This expansion aims to ensure comprehensive coverage and connectivity in both rural and urban areas.
Over the last year, the company added 2.82 crore 4G/5G data customers to its network, with an average data usage per data customer reaching 22 GB per month (Bharti Airtel Q3 results).
In India, Airtel’s 4G and 5G customer base increased by 13 percent year-on-year and 3.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, reaching 24.49 crore, constituting 73.3 percent of its total customer base.
Bharti Airtel’s mobile data usage in India saw an 8.2 percent year-on-year increase and a 1.2 percent quarter-on-quarter increase, reaching 22 GB per customer per month during the reviewed quarter.
Airtel’s home business, encompassing fixed broadband line services, experienced a 23 percent year-on-year growth (Bharti Airtel Q3 results). The fixed broadband service customer base for Bharti Airtel in India expanded by 29.2 percent, totaling about 73 lakh. However, the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) declined by 6.5 percent, reaching 583.
Bharti Airtel’s net debt slightly decreased from Rs 2.09 lakh crore to Rs 2.02 lakh crore compared to the previous year.
In January, the company prepaid high-cost debt amounting to Rs 8,325 crore, bringing the total repayment for the current financial year to Rs 16,349 crore to the Department of Telecom (Bharti Airtel Q3 results). This repayment is part of the prepayment of deferred liabilities related to the spectrum acquired in the 2015 auction.
The total employee base of the company witnessed a growth of 4.12 percent, reaching 17,924.
