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Informist, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024

 

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--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol net profit INR 35.93 bln 
--Analysts saw Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol net profit INR 46.84 bln 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol PAT INR 35.93 bln vs INR 41.60 bln qtr ago 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol sales INR 414.7 bln vs INR 385.1 bln qtr ago 
--Bharti Airtel: One-time cost of INR 8.54 bln in Jul-Sept 
--Bharti Airtel Apr-Sept consol PAT INR 77.53 bln vs INR 29.53 bln year ago 
--Bharti Airtel Apr-Sept consol sales INR 799.8 bln vs INR 744.8 bln yr ago 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept mobile ARPU INR 233 vs INR 203 year ago 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol EBITDA INR 220 bln vs INR 199 bln qtr ago 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol EBITDA margin 53.1% vs 51.8% qtr ago 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept India sales INR 315.61 bln, up 8.7% on quarter 
--Bharti Airtel: India sales in Jul-Sept up on improved realisations 
--Bharti Airtel capex in Jul-Sept was INR 62.60 bln 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept consol capex INR 76.75 bln 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept Africa ops sales up 20.8% YoY in constant currency 
--Bharti Airtel Jul-Sept Africa ops sales up 7.7% QoQ in constant currency 
--Bharti Airtel: Prepaid 84.65 bln of high-cost spectrum dues in Jul-Sept 
--Bharti Airtel: Industry needs more tariff repair given ROCE for India 11% 
--Bharti Airtel consol customer base 563.17 mln on Sept 30, down 0.8% on qtr 
--Bharti Airtel India customer base 406.53 mln on Sept 30, down 0.7% on qtr 
--Bharti Airtel: Jul-Sept airtel business revenue up 10.7% on year 
--Bharti Airtel: Jul-Sept airtel business revenue led by domestic portfolio

 

By Darshan Nakhwa 

 

MUMBAI – Bharti Airtel Ltd., India's second-largest telecom company, Monday reported a weaker-than-expected bottom line for the September quarter due to one-time cost incurred by the company on account of foreign exchange loss. However, it posted healthy growth in other earnings parameters, driven by strong momentum in the India business and growth in constant currency terms in Africa operations. 

 

The company's net profit fell 14% on quarter to INR 35.93 billion, missing analysts' estimate of INR 46.84 billion by a wide margin. During the quarter, the company incurred an exceptional loss of INR 8.54 billion on account of foreign exchange loss (net) due to currency devaluation in its group subsidiaries.

 

In Jul-Sept, Bharti Airtel's revenue grew 7.7% from a quarter ago to INR 414.73 billion, slightly higher than the INR 411.79 billion the Street had estimated. Its operating profit, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, rose 10.4% sequentially to INR 220 billion. This was slightly higher than analysts' estimate of INR 219.39 billion. The company's EBITDA margin for Jul-Sept was at 53.1%, compared with 51.8% a quarter ago. 

 

Bharti Airtel's revenue from operations in India grew 8.7% on quarter to INR 315.61 billion during the September quarter, supported by improved realisations in its mobile segment and sustained momentum in Homes and Airtel Business, it said in a press release. Bharti Airtel India customer base fell 0.7% on quarter to 406.53 million on Sept 30, and its total customer base was down 0.8% at 563.17 million. 

 

The company's revenue from mobile services in India grew 10.3% on quarter to INR 248.37 billion, led by an increase in average revenue per user to INR 233 from INR 211 in the previous quarter, and increased focus on premiumising the portfolio. Bharti Airtel is an industry leader in terms of average revenue per user, which is higher than its peer Reliance Jio Infocomm's average revenue per user of INR 195.1. "We believe that industry needs further tariff repair for sustained investments given that ROCE (return on capital employed) for India is still only 11%," the company's Managing Director, Gopal Vittal, said in a press release.

 

In Jul-Sept, the number of fourth generation and fifth generation customer base of Bharti Airtel increased by 4.2 mln sequentially to 263.6 million. It had a total of 351.6 million mobile service customers as of Sept. 30. Overall, the data usage per customer per month rose to 23.9 gigabytes in Jul-Sept from 23.7 GB a quarter ago.

 

Bharti Airtel said it net added around 768,000 users in the postpaid segment, taking the total postpaid customer base in the India mobile services segment to 24.7 million. Postpaid users provide comparatively higher average revenue for telecom companies compared to prepaid users.

 

Apart from mobile services, Bharti Airtel also operates in home services and digital TV services segments. The homes services segment, which houses the fixed-line telephone and broadband services, saw net addition of 583,000 customers in Jul-Sept, taking the customer base to 8.55 million. However, the average revenue per user in this segment fell to INR 566 in Jul-Sept from INR 572 in Apr-Jun. The company's revenue from this business grew to INR 14.32 billion from INR 13.67 billion in the quarter ago. 

 

"We rolled out an additional 5,000 towers and 15,200 mobile broadband stations in the quarter to enhance connectivity and provide superior network experience. Additionally, we turbocharged our networks with deployment of additional spectrum acquired in key circles in Jun 24," the company said in a press release. 

 

In the digital TV services segment, which includes the direct-to-home or DTH platform, the company net lost 546,000 customers in Jul-Sept, dragging the total customer base to 15.79 million. The average revenue per user in this segment rose to INR 158 in Jul-Sept from INR 159 a quarter ago. The company clocked a top line of 7.59 billion from the business. 

 

The Airtel Business segment delivered a revenue of INR 56.56 billion, up 3.3% on quarter and 10.7% on year. The domestic business continues to showcase healthy growth trends, and emerging digital products are also seeing strong traction, the company said.

 

In Jul-Sept, Bharti Airtel's consolidated capital expenditure was INR 76.75 billion, lower than INR 80.07 billion in Apr-Jun. This is the lowest capital expenditure in a single quarter in at least over a year. In India, the compny spent INR 62.60 billion and in Africa INR 14.15 billion. During the quarter, the company also prepaid another tranche of INR 84.65 billion for deferred liabilities pertaining to spectrum acquired in the year 2016 to the Department of Telecom.

 

The company's revenue from Africa, which constitutes about 25% of its total revenue, rose 20.8% on year and 7.7% on quarter in constant currency terms. With respect to operating margin, the metric declined 201 basis points from a year ago to 46.6% in constant currency terms. The customer base of the Africa business was 157 million as of Sept. 30, as per the press release. 

 

On a year-on-year basis, Bharti Airtel reported strong growth across key earnings parameters. While its net profit jumped by a massive 168% on year, its EBITDA and top line rose 12?ch. For Apr-Sept, the company earned a net profit of INR 77.53 billion, up 162.5% on year, and its revenue came in at INR 799.80 billion, up 7.4% on year. Monday, shares of Bharti Airtel closed 0.2% lower at INR 1,663.35 on the National Stock Exchange. The company announced its results post market hours.  End

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

 

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