Bharti Airtel Q1 results: Net profit jumps 43% to ₹5,948 crore, revenue rises 29%; ARPU improves to ₹250

Bharti Airtel, the country's second largest telecom services provider, on Tuesday, August 5, reported net profit of ₹5,948 crore in the first quarter of current financial year (Q1FY26), marking an increase of 43% from ₹4,160 crore in the same period last year. The sharp jump in profit came on the back of strong performance in India and rebound in African business.

Bharti Airtel's revenue from operations jumped 29% annually in April-June period to ₹49,463 crore from ₹38,506 crore in the year-ago period.

The company reported strong operational performance as its operating profit also known as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at ₹28,167 crore with an EBITDA margin of 56.9%.

Bharti Airtel's India business posted quarterly revenues of ₹37,585 crore – up 29% year-on-year (YoY) and up 2.3% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), backed by improved realizations in mobile segment and strong momentum in homes business, the Delhi-based company said in a regulatory filing.

Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric of a telecom company's profitability, improved to ₹250 per user per month from ₹211 in the year-ago period.

"We have further fortified our leadership in the postpaid segment, maintaining momentum with net additions of 0.7 million customers in Q1 26, binging our total customer base to 26.6 million. Our share in the smartphone data customers also experienced sustained growth, with an increase of 21.3 million users, reflecting an 8.2% YoY rise," Bharti Airtel said.

Bharti Airtel Africa business update:

• Revenue (in constant currency) up 24.9% YoY
• EBITDA margin (in constant currency) at 48.1%, up 292 bps YoY.
• EBIT margin at 31.4%, up 244 bps YoY.
• Customer base stands at 169 million
• Capex for the quarter at ₹1,034 crore

"We delivered another quarter of consistent growth, with consolidated revenues at 49,463 crores growing 3.3% on a sequential basis. Our India revenue, including Passive Infrastructure Services, increased by 2.3% sequentially. Africa reported solid performance with 6.7% growth in constant currency," said Gopal Vittal, Vice- Chairman and MD, Bharti Airtel.

During the quarter, Bharti Airtel extended its network by installing 1,800 additional towers and 7,500 mobile broadband stations. The company has invested in the addition of 15,400 towers and deployed 43,700 kms of fiber.

"The Homes business demonstrated robust momentum, achieving 25.7% YoY revenue growth driven by record high customer additions. During the quarter, accelerated expansion of our Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network resulting in total Wifi net addition of 939K customers, bringing the total customer base to 11.0 million. Additionally, we expanded our home-pass network significantly, adding ~1.6 million fibre home passes in the quarter," Bharti Airtel said.

"Our Homes business reported solid performance with a life time high quarterly net additions of 939K, resulting in a sequential revenue growth of 7.6%. Our IPTV expansion is ramping up well with strong acceptance from customers as it delivers superior experience and convenience. Airtel Business revenue decline is reflecting full impact of portfolio restructuring undertaken last year. The underlying growth trajectory remains steady at a sequential growth of 2.0 % with continued improvement in funnel and orderbook," Vittal added.

Bharti Airtel shares ended 0.77% higher at ₹1,929.75 ahead of its earnings announcement.