Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s quarterly profit surged on lower finance costs and an exceptional gain, offsetting the decline in other income.
The Sunil Mittal-led telecom operator's net profit jumped 300% sequentially to Rs 1,134 crore in the quarter ended September, according to its exchange filing. That compares with the Rs 753.3-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
The carrier reported an exceptional gain of Rs 722.1 crore on account of transfer of spectrum rights.
Q2 Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue rose 5.5% to Rs 28,326.4 crore, compared with the estimated Rs 27,713.5 crore.
Operating profit rose 6.3% to Rs 14,018 crore.
Margin stood at 49.5% against 49.1%.
Finance costs fell 6.2% to Rs 3,964.1 crore.
Other income fell 48.1% to Rs 108.8 crore.
Average revenue per user—the amount an operator earns per subscriber a month—rose to Rs 153 from Rs 146.
The rise in ARPU was led by higher recharge frequency after the second Covid-19 wave and withdrawal of free talk time benefits. Homes business segment (related to broadband and cable TV) witnessed the highest-ever customer net additions of 4.67 lakh during the reported quarter, taking the total base to 38 lakh for the category.
The operator's total customer base rose 1.1% sequentially to 35.5 crore in the second quarter. Its 4G subscriber base rose 4.3% to 19.25 crore. Bharti Airtel, according to the latest data from the telecom regulator, has maintained an active subscriber market share of more than 34% since January 2021
The net debt-Ebitda ratio (annualised) and including the impact of leases as on Sept. 30 stood at 2.96 times compared with 3.03 times as of June.
Separately, the profit and revenue of Airtel Africa rose 35% and 4.3% sequentially to $192 million (Rs 1,440 crore) and $1,160 million (Rs 8,700 crore) during the period under consideration.
Revenue was supported by growth across regions, including Nigeria, East Africa and Francophone Africa, and services like voice, data and mobile money.
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