Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 1,134 crore for the second quarter ended September against a net loss of Rs 783 crore a year ago.
The net profit came above analyst estimates, aided by an exceptional gain of Rs 722 crore on account of the transfer of spectrum rights to Reliance Jio.
Consolidated revenue also beat estimates and grew 13 per cent to Rs 28,326 crore during the July-September quarter against Rs 25,060 crore in the same period last year.
“We continue to maintain a high degree of financial flexibility. As a result, we have now achieved nil bank debt for our India businesses. We will continue to evaluate all options to maintain a comfortable leverage profile and manage associated costs,” Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said.
“During the quarter gone by, we saw a healthy 5.5 per cent sequential growth in consolidated revenues and expansion of EBITDA (earning before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation) margin to 49.5 per cent.”
Average revenue per user — the amount an operator earns per subscriber — rose to Rs 153 from Rs 146, because of higher recharge frequency after the second wave and the withdrawal of free talk time benefits. Rival Reliance Jio reported lower ARPU of Rs 143.6 per month in second quarter.
Airtel has benefited from higher user additions and a jump in data usage due to remote working trends during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It added 8.1 million 4G users in the second quarter from the previous quarter to touch 192.5 million subscribers — making it 60 per cent of its overall customer case. Mobile data consumption surged 47.5 per cent from a year ago.
The company had also undertaken some hikes in its tariffs earlier this year. In July, it scrapped the entry-level prepaid recharge of Rs 49 and set the base plan at Rs 79 .
“The step up in performance of our enterprise and homes business reflects our resilience and strength . Even more exciting is the way our new businesses – Airtel Payments Bank, data centres and revenues from digital services are shaping up. With a future-proofed 5G network, we are well positioned to build a strong Airtel of the future,” Vittal said.
