Airtel Q1 profit below estimates; 5.6 million new 4G users sign up
MUMBAI : Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s second largest telecom operator, reported a mixed set of first quarter numb-ers on Thursday, with revenue beating estimates even as profit came below expectations. The company reported a flat net profit of ₹1,612.5 crore in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 from ₹1,607 crore in the year ago. However, the company’s revenue from operations grew 14% to ₹37,440 crore compared to ₹32,804.6 crore in Q1 FY23.
Bharti Airtel’s net profit missed Bloomberg analysts estimate of ₹2,861 crore, but revenue beat the estimate of ₹36,869 crore. There was a one-time loss of ₹3,416.3 crore in Q1FY24. “We have delivered yet ano-ther quarter of strong and competitive growth across all our businesses.
Our consolidated revenue grew sequentially 4.0%, and Ebitda margin exp-anded to 52.7%, underscoring simplicity and execution of our strategy," said Gopal Vittal MD. The company’s Ebitda grew 18.9% to ₹19,746 crore, while Ebitda margins expanded 212 basis points to 52.7%. “Our focus on winning quality customers and driving premiumization has helped add 5.6 mn new 4G customers and highest ever postpaid customers in any one quarter.
We exit the quarter with an industry leading ARPU of ₹200. Homes, Enterprise and our digital businesses continue to exhibit strong growth, reflecting resilience and strength," he said. The average revenue per user (ARPU) per month increased 9.28% YoY to ₹200 in Q1 FY2024 from ₹183 in Q1 FY2023 on the back of sustained focus on acquiring quality customers and improved realizations on account of premiumization.
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