Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Thursday posted a net profit of Rs 1,612 crore for the first quarter ended June 2023, which is nearly flat over earnings in the same period of the previous year.

The revenue for the just ended quarter was 14 per cent higher at Rs 37,440 crore compared with the year-ago period, the company said.

“We have delivered yet another quarter of strong and competitive growth across all our businesses.

“Our focus on winning quality customers and driving premiumisation has helped us add 5.6 million new 4G customers and the highest ever postpaid customers in any one quarter,” managing director Gopal Vittal said in a statement.

Mobile services revenues in India were up 12.4 per cent year-on-year led by continued strong 4G customer additions and an increase in average revenue per user (ARPU).

The consolidated net
income (after exceptional items) stood at Rs 1,612 crore, up 0.3 per cent over the corresponding period of the previous year, due to a one-time charge of Rs 3,416 crore on the devaluation of the Nigerian currency.

Nigeria is a major market for mobile services in Africa, which contributes to around 30 per cent of Airtel’s revenue.

The company said that Mobile ARPU (a key metric for telecom operators) increased to Rs 200 in the first quarter of FY24 against Rs 183 in April-June FY23.

Consolidated EBITDA rose 18.9 per cent to Rs 19,746 crore in the first quarter. This led to an improvement in EBITDA margin to 52.7 per cent in the first quarter from 50.6 per cent a year ago.

The telco’s customer base stood at 38.3 crore at the end of June quarter, with a net addition of 8 lakh in the post-paid segment.

In the 4G segment, Airtel added 2.45 crore 4G data customers an increase of 12 per cent.

Airtel, market leader Reliance Jio and other telcos have a dual focus of migrating more customers from 2G to 4G and subsequently to 5G to grow their premium user base and of raising tariffs that have long been stagnant.

Last month, Reliance Jio, the telecommunication arm of conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, reported its slowest revenue and profit growth in six quarters due to stagnant tariffs.

Indian telecom companies have spent massively in acquiring 5G spectrums and rolling out services across the country.