Airtel Q1 net profit more than halves to Rs 283 cr; ARPU at Rs 146

Revenue of the Sunil Mittal-led telco rose 4.2 per cent on a sequential basis to Rs 26,853 crore in June quarter

Telecom major Bharti Airtel's earnings were under pressure in the first quarter, missing Street estimates and its average revenue per user muted as coronavirus-led disruptions weakened subscriber additions.

Profit for the April-June period declined 63 per cent to Rs 283 crore when compared with Rs 759 crore in the last quarter of previous financial year (Q4FY21).

Analysts had estimated first quarter profit to halve on a sequential basis. For instance, brokerage Emkay Global expected the same to fall 58 per cent.

In the year-ago June quarter, Bharti Airtel had posted a massive loss of Rs 15,933 crore, owing to one-time provisioning for AGR dues.

With the decline in coronavirus cases and gradual opening of the economy towards the end of the quarter, we see a cautious return to normalcy, said Airtel in an exchange filing. 

Revenue of the Sunil Mittal-led telco rose 4.2 per cent to Rs 26,853 crore for the reporting quarter as against Rs 25,747 reported in Q4FY21.

"While our wireless revenue was impacted by the Covid lockdown induced slowdown in terms of device shipments and a financial squeeze at the lower end of the market, our overall performance reflected the resilience and strength of our portfolio," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Airtel India & South Asia, said in a statement.

At the operating level, the consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) during the first quarter came in at Rs 13,189 crore, while margins improved to 49.1 per cent.

Mobile ARPU per month rose marginally on sequential basis during the June quarter to Rs 146. It was Rs 145 in the previous quarter.

The company says it has deployed additional spectrum across 900, 1,800, 2,100 and 2,300 band in multiple circles during the quarter to improve network availability and data speeds, delivering the best network experience to its customers. 

"The vaccination of our employee and associates, along with delivering a great end user experience were our key priorities this quarter," the telco said.

Airtel has added over 517,000 subscribers in April and lost 4.6 million of them in the month of May due to the second wave and resultant lockdowns, while its main rival Reliance Jio fared better in both the months, according to the telecom regulator.

The India business posted quarterly revenues of Rs 18,828 crore, an increase of 19 per cent year-on-year on a comparable basis, while mobile services revenue was up 21.9 per cent YoY on comparable basis on account of improving realisations and sustained increase in 4G customer base.

"We added 5.1 million 4G customers during the quarter and our enterprise business in India continued to deliver strongly. Our Homes business grew by just about 13 percent over last year and added 285K customers in the quarter, the highest ever. We continue to invest in the best of emerging technologies, including networks and digital capabilities,” Vittal said.

Homes business segment witnessed a revenue growth of 12.9 per cent over last year with highest ever customer additions of 285,000 during the quarter to reach to a total base of 3.35 million.

Ahead of the results, Airtel's scrip was up 2.66 per cent to settle at Rs 580.2 on NSE.