Bharti Airtel Q2 results: Net profit rises 89% to ₹6,792 crore, revenue jumps 26%, ARPU improves to ₹256 per month

Bharti Airtel, the country's second largest telecom services company, on Monday, November 3, reported net profit of ₹6,792 crore in the second quarter of current financial year, marking an increase of 26% from ₹3,593 crore in the same period last year.

Its revenue from operations jumped 26% to ₹52,145 crore in July-September period from ₹41,473 crore a year earlier.

In the second quarter, Bharti Airtel reported operating profit or EBITDA of ₹29,919 crore with EBITDA margin at 57.4%.

India business EBITDA came in at ₹23,204 crore and EBITDA margin stood at 60%.

Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key profitability metric of a telecom company, improved to ₹256 per user per month from ₹233 in the year-ago period.

"We have further strengthened our position in the postpaid segment with quarterly net additions of 0.95 million customers, bringing our total customer base to 27.5 million. Smartphone data customers increased by 22.2 million over past 12 months, representing a 8.4% YoY increase," Bharti Airtel said in a press release.

"During the quarter, we added 2,479 towers and 20,841 mobile broadband base stations. Over past 12 months we have deployed 12,796 new towers and rolled out 44,104 kms of fiber to bolster our future ready digital infrastructure," the Delhi-based company said.

"We delivered another quarter of solid performance, achieving a consolidated revenue of ₹52,145 crore growing 5.4% sequentially and underscoring the strength of our portfolio. Our India revenue, including Passive Infrastructure Services, increased by 2.9%. Africa delivered another quarter of standout performance with constant currency revenue growth of 7.1%," said Gopal Vittal, Vice- Chairman and MD.

"India Mobile business delivered 2.6% revenue growth, adding 5.1 million smartphone customers, maintaining an industry-leading ARPU of ₹256 led by continued premiumization of portfolio and a steadfast focus on quality customers. The Postpaid segment recorded one of the highest quarterly net additions of 1 million," Vittal added.

During the quarter, Bharti Airtel partnered with Perplexity to offer 12-month Perplexity Pro subscription free of cost to all its mobile, homes and digital tv customers.

Bharti Airtel shares ended 0.21% higher at ₹1,570 ahead of its earnings announcement.