Airtel Q2 showed resilience amid rate hikes, top level changes to be non-disruptive: Analysts
Bharti Airtel’s revenue growth was higher than larger rival Reliance Jio’s which lost 11 million subscribers, analysts said, indicating a higher resilience from the nation’s second largest telecom operator.
In addition, brokerage Citi Research said it does not expect the change in leadership in Airtel which was announced Monday to be very disruptive. “This should be further supported by Bharti’s strong established credentials and our view that the peak of competitive intensity is behind us”.
Market analysts said that Airtel’s user loss was mainly amongst low-ARPU (average revenue per user) subscribers, which combined with 0.8 million net additions in the postpaid user base, showed the Sunil Mittal-led operator’s success in premiumising its subscriber mix.
Bharti Airtel Tuesday reported that its consolidated net profit for the fiscal second quarter surged 168% from the year earlier as tariff hikes lifted average revenue per user (ARPU) but also led to subscriber losses. Airtel’s quarterly net profit stood at Rs 3,593.2 crore, down 13.6% sequentially, missing analyst estimates of about Rs 4,311 crore due to a one-time exceptional loss of Rs 318.3 crore, owing to currency devaluation in Nigeria.
India’s second-largest telco also named COO Shashwat Sharma as the CEO-designate before taking over full time as managing director and CEO from January 1, 2026, running the consumer businesses – homes, broadband and mobile – for the telco. Current CEO Gopal Vittal will move into the role of executive vice chairman, which
