Bharti Airtel Q4FY24 results: Net profit drops 31% to Rs 2,071 crore

Average revenue per user inches up to Rs. 209, from Rs. 208 in Q3

Bharti Airtel’s net profit (attributable to owners) for the January-March quarter (Q4) of FY24 declined 31.1 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 2,071 crore, impacted by the devaluation of African currencies, particularly the Nigerian Naira. Sequentially, the profit fell 15.17 per cent from Rs 2,442.2 crore.

The telecom service provider saw its annual profits fall to Rs 7,460 crore in FY24, down from Rs 8,345 crore in FY23.

While strong 4G and 5G customer additions continued, the consolidated revenue from operations came in at Rs 37,599 crore in Q4, a 4.41 per cent Y-o-Y jump. Other income in the quarter under review stood at Rs 316.9 crore.

 

The company’s average revenue per user (Arpu), a key performance metric for telecom firms, rose 8.2 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 209, up from Rs 193 in Q4FY23. However, it rose only marginally from Rs 208 in the preceding quarter. Airtel’s ARPU is the highest among the country’s top telecom players, beating Jio’s Rs 181.7 and Vodafone Idea’s Rs 145 (as last reported by both companies).

The company’s India revenue for Q4 was Rs 28,513 crore, up 12.9 per cent Y-o-Y. Mobile services in India, which account for a significant portion of the revenue, also grew at 12.9 per cent, up from 11.8 per cent and 10.9 per cent growth seen in the preceding two quarters.

The telco’s consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) during the quarter were Rs 19,590 crore, while the EBITDA margin was 52.1 per cent.

The India business posted an EBITDA of Rs 15,293 crore, with a margin of 53.6 per cent.

“Consolidated performance was impacted primarily by the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira. We added 7.8 million smartphone customers and delivered an industry-leading ARPU of Rs 209. Our relentless focus on improving customer experience has resulted in a 20 per cent churn reduction during the quarter,” said Managing Director Gopal Vittal.

Even at this Arpu, the return on capital employed, however, continues to be low due to the absence of tariff hikes in the industry, Vittal said.

Stronger subscriber growth

The net addition in the premier postpaid segment stood at 0.8 million subscribers in the latest quarter, as compared to the 0.9 million subscribers in Q3, and 1 million in Q2. The company had a total of 51.2 million users in the segment, including Internet of Things (IoT) users.

On a consolidated basis, 4G/5G data customers were up by 28.6 million, now making up 72 per cent of the overall mobile customer base. The telecom firm’s home business added 331,000 new users in the last year.

Mobile data consumption increased by 25 per cent Y-o-Y, with consumption per customer rising to 22.6 GB per month in India.

Airtel rolled out 10,500 new towers over the quarter to further strengthen network coverage. The company has rolled out 43,102 towers in FY24.