NEW DELHI: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net profit grew 89% to Rs 2,145.2 crore for the second quarter ended September 2022 (FY23) as against Rs 1,134 crore reported a year ago period.
Its revenue increased 21.9% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 34,527 crore, backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio and crossing 500 million customers globally.
Its consolidated EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation jumped 6.7% for the quarter to Rs 17,721 crore, while the operating margin improved to 51.3% from 50.6% quarter-on-quarter.
The company reported the highest Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) among the telecom operators for the quarter. Its ARPU for the quarter stood at Rs 190 as compared to Rs 153 in Q2FY22. According to the telco, the reason for the improved APRU is its continued focus on quality customers, feature phone to smartphone upgrade and data monetisation. “Our consolidated revenue grew sequentially by 5.3% and EBITDA margin expanded to 51.3%.
The consistency of our execution is driven by the strength and resilience of our portfolio. Our B2B and homes business continued their strong growth momentum, while mobile ARPU expanded to 190 on the back of premiumisation and deep customer understanding,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel India and South Asia.
For mobile segment, the company posted a revenue of Rs 18,957.6 crore, up 24.8% YoY. Airtel said it continued to gain a strong share of 4G customers in the market and added 17.8 million 4G data customers to its network over last year. It is an increase of 9.2% year-on-year. The company said it had also rolled out additional 8,000 towers in the quarter to further strengthen its network coverage and provide ubiquitous connectivity.
On 5G, Airtel said it has become the first telco to roll out 5G services with a launch in eight cities and it would cover all of urban and key rural areas of India by March 2024. “We are rolling out 5G and are confident Airtel 5G Plus will deliver the best experience in India while being kinder to environment,” Vittal added.
