
Airtel’s free cash flows to grow to Rs 36,100 cr by FY26, Jio’s to Rs 36,900 cr: Analysts
Bharti Airtel’s India business is set to see its free cash flows (FCF) grow to around Rs 36,100 crore by FY26 while Reliance Jio’s is slated to rise to Rs 36,900 crore on the back of expected further tariff hikes, network capex normalisation and strong average revenue per user (ARPU) growth, said analysts.
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This compares with around Rs 20,281 crore FCF generated by Airtel’s India business in FY24 and Rs 6,419 crore by Jio. Strong FCF generation, in turn, is slated to drive sharp growth in dividend payouts in the next few years.
Sector analysts expect the telecom industry to achieve an ARPU of Rs 280-310 in the next 3-4 years — from around Rs 208 now — to ring in a higher RoCE (return on capital employed) of 12-15% from the current 8-9% level.
As per analysts, sectoral ARPU growth is slated to come via a combination of faster 2G to 4G/5G conversions, strong postpaid user additions and higher data monetisation amid rising usage on expectations of a rapid expansion of the 5G user base with both Airtel and Jio seeing strong adoption and Vodafone Idea (Vi) too readying to launch 5G in key markets from March.
“We believe (sectoral) ARPU is on a structural uptrend, given the consolidated industry structure and the sector’s need to earn a respectable 15% RoCE on huge capex investments already made in the business and future investment needs,” J M