In the first quarter of FY25, Bharti Airtel's net profit (attributable to owners) increased by 158% year over year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 4,159 crore from Rs 1,612 crore in the same period the previous year. The earnings from the previous quarter, which was Rs 2,071 crore, more than quadrupled sequentially. The increased emphasis on cost effectiveness, the growth of 4G and 5G customers, and the sustained expansion of business categories like residences were the reasons given by the corporation for the increase in earnings.
Despite the continuation of robust 4G and 5G client additions, the consolidated revenue from operations in Q1 was Rs 38,506.4 crore, indicating a 2.84 per cent year-over-year increase. During the reviewed quarter, other income totaled Rs 363.5 crore. The business said that the depreciation of African currencies, especially the Nigerian Naira, continues to have an effect on the revenues of its group operations.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU), a crucial performance indicator for telecom companies, increased 5.5% year over year to Rs 211 from Rs 200 in Q1FY24. It did, however, just slightly increase from Rs 209 in the previous quarter. According to both companies' most recent reports, Airtel has the highest ARPU in the sector, surpassing both Jio's and Vodafone Idea's Rs 146.
Revenue for Bharti Airtel's India division in the first quarter was Rs 29,046 crore, increasing 10.1% year over year. The income from mobile services in India, which makes up a large amount of the total, increased by 10.5% to Rs 22,527 crore from Rs 20,392 crore in Q1FY24.
In the last two quarters, there has been a notable acceleration in the annual growth of this category, with growth rates of 12.9%, 11.8%, and 10.9%. During the quarter, the telco's consolidated Profits Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to Rs 19,944 crore, with a 51.8 percent EBITDA margin. With a margin of 53.7%, the India company reported an EBITDA of Rs 15,599 crore.
"We have good operational leverage as a result of our relentless focus on achieving cost savings. Africa's underlying constant currency sales growth is still quite high. India operations added 6.7 million smartphone customers and reported an improved ARPU of Rs 211, " stated Gopal Vittal, Managing Director at Airtel.
In Q1, Airtel's home business attracted 348,000 new members, bringing its overall user base to 8 million. A significant wager for the telecom, the housing segment grew by 17.6%. "We quickened the pace of expanding Fixed Wireless Access services in important towns during the quarter. More than 1,300 localities already offer our WiFi services (Fiber To The Home and FWA)," added Vittal.
Increased Subscriber Growth
Similar to the previous quarter, the net addition in the premium postpaid sector was 0.8 million customers in the most recent quarter. At 0.9 million and 1 million subscribers in Q3 and Q2, respectively, of FY24, the growth had previously been greater. There were 24 million postpaid consumers in total. Customers using 4G and 5G data increased by 29.7 million on a combined basis, accounting for 73% of all mobile users. The rise was just less than the 28.6 million additions from the previous quarter.
In India, the amount of mobile data consumed per subscriber climbed to 23.7 GB per month, a 26 percent yearly rise. In an effort to improve network coverage, Airtel installed 15,500 mobile broadband stations and 6,300 additional towers during the quarter. According to the company, Airtel's market share in the smartphone sector continued to grow with the addition of 29.7 million, or 12.9% YoY.
