Bharti Airtel net profit soars 49.2% to Rs 3,006 Cr in Jan-March

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted a 49.2% jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 3,005.6 crore for the January-March quarter of 2022-23 on the back of new 4G customers and strong growth in average revenue per user (ARPU).

The company had recorded a net profit of Rs 2,007.8 crore in the same period a year ago.

Bharti Airtel's consolidated revenue from operations grew by 14.31% to Rs 36,009 crore during the reported quarter from Rs 31,500.3 crore in the March 2022 quarter.

"This has been another strong quarter as we end the fiscal year having further strengthened our portfolio. Our focus on acquiring quality customers has resulted in 7.4 million new 4G customers, as we exit the quarter with an industry-leading ARPU of Rs 193. A simple strategy and our relentless focus on execution have ensured that we close the year with market share gains across all businesses," Bharti Airtel Managing Director Gopal Vittal said in a statement.

Bharti Airtel India business during the reported quarter grew by about 12.2% to Rs 25,250 crore and by 19% in the 2022-23 fiscal to Rs 82,487.7 crore.

The company exited the fourth quarter and fiscal year with the highest industry average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 193 compared to Rs 178 which it recorded in March 2022 quarter.

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Its rival and telecom major Reliance Jio has reported an APRU of Rs 178.8 during the March 2023 quarter.

Airtel India Mobile services revenue during the reported quarter grew 12% to Rs 19,549.3 crore from Rs 17,526.2 crore in the March 2022 quarter.

The annual revenue of the mobile services business in India grew by 21% to Rs 75,924.6 crore in FY2023 from Rs 62,915.1 crore in FY'22.

For the year ended on March 31, 2023, Bharti Airtel's net profit almost doubled to Rs 8,346 crore from Rs 4,255 crore a year ago.

The consolidated revenue from operations of Bharti Airtel for 2022-23 increased by 19.3% to Rs 1,39,144.8 crore from Rs 1,16,546.9 crore at the end of 2021-22.

The company's capital expenditure in India more than doubled to Rs 8,989.4 crore in the March 2023 quarter from Rs 4276.7 crore a year ago.

The majority of the capex of Rs 6,647.1 crore was deployed in the mobile business as the company continues to build up a pan-India 5G network.

"We are also pleased to see the increased velocity of our digital deliveries across all parts of our business. This has been due to our sustained focus on digital platforms and talent. We continue to ramp up our 5G rollout and expect to connect all major towns and key villages by the end of this year," Vittal said.

Bharti Airtel said that it rolled out additional about 12,500 towers in the quarter to further strengthen network coverage.

The company's total customer base increased to 51.84 crore in March 2023 quarter from 48.97 crore a year ago. Airtel's customer base in India grew 4.7% to 37.53 crore during the reported quarter from 35.83 crore in March 2022 quarter. The company reported an 11.6% increase in 4G customer base to 22.41 crore from 20.84 crore in March 2022 quarter.

Airtel recorded an 8% increase in data consumption per user to about 20 GB from 18.77 GB a year ago. However, data consumption per user declined marginally on a sequential basis.

The consolidated net debt of Bharti including the impact of leases stands at Rs 2,13,126.4 crore as of March 31, 2023.