Bharti Airtel shines amidst massive challenges in Q3

New Delhi: Bharti Airtel Ltd's consolidated revenues for Q3'19 were Rs 20,519 crore, growing 1.9% Y-o-Y on an underlying basis (viz. adjusted for international termination rate reduction). Consolidated mobile data traffic at 3,332 Bn MBs in the quarter has registered a healthy Y-o-Y growth of 183%.

India revenues for Q3'19 at Rs 14,768 crore have declined by 2.3% Y-o-Y (declined 3.5% on reported) on an underlying basis. Mobile revenues have witnessed a Y-o-Y de-growth of 4.0% on an underlying basis primarily on account of the sustained pricing pressure in India Mobile segment.

Digital TV revenue witnessed a growth of 7.1% Y-o-Y and Airtel Business has witnessed a growth of 10.9% on an underlying basis. Mobile data traffic has almost tripled to 3,217 Bn MBs in the quarter as compared to 1,106 Bn MBs in the corresponding quarter last year. Mobile 4G data customers increased by 112% to 77.1 Mn from 36.4 Mn in the corresponding quarter last year.

In constant currency (March 1, 2018) terms, Africa revenues grew by 11.2% Y-o-Y led by strong growth in data and Airtel money transaction value. Mobile data traffic has grown by 61% to 105 Bn MBs in the quarter as compared to 66 Bn MBs in the same quarter last year.

Data customers increased by 25.5% to 29.3 Mn from 23.3 Mn in the corresponding quarter last year. Active Airtel Money customer base increased to 13.8 Mn, boosting the total transaction value on Airtel Money platform by 29% to $ 6.9 billion. Consequently, EBITDA margin improved by 1.7% Y-o-Y and stands at 37.2%.

Consolidated EBITDA at Rs 6,307 crore declined 16.9% Y-o-Y. Consolidated EBITDA margin decreased by 6.6% to 30.7% in the quarter as compared to 37.3% in the corresponding quarter last year. Consolidated EBIT dropped by 69.9% Y-o-Y to Rs 813 crore. The Consolidated Net Income after exceptional items for the quarter stands at Rs 86 crore (Q2'19: Rs 119 crore) compared to Rs 306 crore in corresponding quarter last year.

Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said, "Our simplified product portfolio and premium content partnerships have played out well during the quarter, translating into one of our highest ever 4G customers additions of 11 mn. Our mobile data volume continues to expand, with a YoY growth of 190%. We have deployed 24K broadband sites during the quarter and remain committed to invest in capacities ahead of the demand curve and provide a superior customer experience."