The telecom major's consolidated net profit surged 89.17% to Rs 2,145.2 crore on 21.89% jump in revenue from operations to Rs 3,4526.8 crore in Q2 FY23 over Q2 FY22.
The company said that the rise in revenue was backed by strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio and crossing 500 million customers globally.
Consolidated profit before tax stood at Rs 4,265.3 crore in Q2 FY23, registering a growth of 40.82% from Rs 3,028.9 crore recorded in the same period previous year.
EBITDA jumped 26.4% year on year to Rs 17,721 crore in quarter ended 30 September 2022. EBITDA margin improved 184 bps YoY to 51.3% in Q2 FY23. Total capex spend for the quarter was Rs 7,047 crore.
India revenues for Q2 FY23 at Rs 24,333 crore, increased by 22.3% YoY. Average revenue per user (ARPU) jumped 24.18% to Rs 190 in Q2 FY23 as compared to Rs 153 posted in Q2 FY22 on the back of company's continued focus on quality customers, feature phone to smartphone upgradation and data monetization. Mobile revenues grew by 24.8% YoY on account of improved realisation as well as strong 4G customer additions during the year.
The telecom operator said that it continues to gain strong share of the 4G customers in the market and added 17.8 million 4G data customers to its network over last year, an increase of 9.2% YoY. ARPU continues to be the best in industry, average data usage per data customer at 20.3 GBs/month and voice usage per customer at 1,082 mins /month.
The company's customer base in India stood at nearly 364 million, rising 0.9% sequentially and 3.1% year on year. Total India Capex spend for the quarter was Rs 5,684 crore.
Airtel's Homes business segment continues its strong momentum and delivers a revenue growth of 38.9% YoY, an outcome of continued acceleration on the back of growing need for reliable and consistent broadband in India. The company added 417,000 customers during the quarter to reach to a total base of 5.2 million. The firm continues to accelerate its rollouts on the back of innovative asset light local cable operator partnership model, it is now live in 1,060 cities through this model.
Revenue of Digital TV remained stable with customer base of 15.8 million at the end of the quarter.
Meanwhile, the company's revenue (in constant currency) from Africa business was up 18.5% YoY. EBITDA margin was at 49%, rising 25 bps YoY. Customer base stands at 134.7 million at the end of September 2022, up 2.4% QoQ and up 9.7% YoY. Total Africa capex spend for the quarter was Rs 1,350 crore.
Bharti Aritel said, Airtel has paid 4 years of 2022 spectrum dues worth Rs 8,312 crore. This upfront payment coupled with ongoing moratorium on spectrum dues and AGR will free up future cash flows and allow us to dedicate resources to drive 5G roll out.
The net debt-EBITDA ratio (annualized) and including the impact of leases as on 30 September 2022 was at 2.96 times, same as corresponding quarter last year in spite of acquiring the 5G spectrum.
In a statement, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said, We have delivered yet another quarter with competitive revenue growth and improved margins. 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 premiumization and deep customer understanding.
He further added, We are now rolling out 5G and are confident that Airtel 5G Plus will deliver the best experience in India while being kinder to the environment. I do believe that 5G technology has the potential of bringing tremendous innovation into India. At the same time we remain concerned about the low ROCE that our business delivers due to pricing that is the lowest in the world. Given the large investments required to drive digital adoption in India we believe there is a need for tariff correction.
Bharti Airtel is a global communications solutions provider with over 500 million customers in 17 countries across South Asia and Africa. The company ranks amongst the top three mobile operators globally and its networks cover over two billion people. Airtel is India's largest integrated communications solutions provider and the second largest mobile operator in Africa.
Shares of Bharti Airtel gained 1.86% to settle at Rs 832 on the BSE.
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