Revenues of Bharti Airtel fell short of analyst estimates in the fourth quarter of the fiscal as 4G user growth and per revenue stagnated during the quarter.

India’s No. 2 telecom player’s consolidated revenue from operations grew 14.31 per cent to Rs 36,009 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 31,500 crore in the March 2022 quarter.

But analysts had expected revenues of Rs 36,500 crore.

Analysts had warned of flagging revenue growth in the absence of tariff hikes to cushion the load of telecom firms spending huge sums on 5G rollowut.

Consolidated net profits rose 49.2 per cent to Rs 3,005.6 crore in Q4 against Rs 2,007.8 crore a year ago, higher than analyst estimate of Rs 2,524 crore.

Its total expenses rose nearly 12 per cent, led by higher marketing and network operating expenses.

The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU), a key performance indicator for telecom firms, was at Rs 193, flat from the previous quarter, but up 8.4 per cent year-on-year.

Last month, market leader Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd, said its fourth-quarter ARPU stood at Rs 178.8, an increase of only 0.3 per cent from a quarter ago and a 6.7 per cent climb from a year ago.

Airtel said it added 7.4 million 4G data customers in the March quarter, with total 4G subscribers now at 224.12 million, an increase of 3.4 per cent from a quarter ago. It had posted a 3.1 per cent increase in 4G users in the December quarter.

The company declared a final dividend of Rs 4 per share for the 2023 financial year.

Indus Towers

In the notes to its financial accounts, the company referred to the pending dues of Vodafone Idea to Indus Towers — the joint venture among the two companies and Bharti Infratel. The company did not name Vodafone Idea.

“The said customer had been informed that a funding plan was under discussion and had agreed to a payment plan till December 2022 and 100 per cent of the amounts billed from January 2023 onwards.”

“As regards the dues outstanding as of December 31, 2022, it had agreed to pay the dues between January 2023 and July 2023.

“However, during the current quarter, the funding plan of the said customer did not materialise and the said customer has indicated challenges in making the payments pertaining to the outstanding amount due as of December 31, 2022.” With inputs from Reuters