New Delhi: Bharti Airtel on Monday posted an 89 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit for September quarter to Rs 2,145 crore, as higher revenue per user, more data consumption, and expanded 4G base boosted realisations. Airtel's total revenue rose nearly 22 per cent year-on-year to Rs 34,527 crore during the just-ended quarter.
The company attributed this to "strong and consistent performance delivery across the portfolio and crossing 500 million customers globally".
The Q2 net profit trailed street expectations, though the revenue numbers came in higher than market estimate.
The Average Revenue Per User or ARPU (a key metrics for telcos) stood at Rs 190 for the just-ended quarter as compared to Rs 153 in Q2 FY22 helped by focus on quality customers, feature phone to smartphone upgradation and data monetisation, Airtel said.
The company, which is rolling out 5G services, exuded confidence about delivering a "best experience in India".
Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal, however, expressed concern about the "low return on capital employed 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," Vittal said in a statement on the Q2 results.
Airtel's top honcho said he believes that 5G technology has the potential of bringing tremendous innovation into India.
Market watchers said that spectrum usage charges savings, ARPU rise, increase in mobile data consumption, and strong showing in the home segment aided Airtel's Q2 report card.
The net income (after exceptional items) for Q2 FY23 came in at Rs 2,145 crore, about 89.1 per cent higher than the year ago period. Seen sequentially, the net profit was 33.49 per cent higher than June quarter.
The net income (before exceptional items) for Q2 FY23 was Rs 2,052 crore, the company said in a statement.
For September quarter, the India revenue stood at Rs 24,333 crore, up 22.3 per cent year-on-year. Mobile revenues grew by 24.8 per cent on year on account of improved realisation as well as strong 4G customer additions during the year. Airtel said 4G data customers were up by 17.8 million year-on-year and five million sequentially, and formed 64 per cent of overall mobile customer base. "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 minutes/month," the company said in a statement.
Airtel said the homes business segment continued its strong momentum and delivered a revenue growth of 38.9 per cent on year, an outcome of continued acceleration on the back of growing need for reliable and consistent broadband in India. Airtel had announced its 5G services roll out earlier this month, with launch in eight cities.
"Eventually we plan to cover all of urban and key rural areas of India by March 2024. Airtel 5G Plus promises to offer massive speeds, best voice experience, will work on all 5G smart phones and be kinder to the environment," Airtel statement added.