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Informist, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025

 

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-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec consol net profit INR 147.81 bln
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec consol PAT INR 147.81 bln vs INR 35.93 bln qtr ago
-- Analysts saw Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec consol net profit INR 50.32 bln
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec consol sales INR 451.29 bln vs INR 414.73 bln qtr ago
-- Bharti Airtel Apr-Dec consol PAT INR 225.34 bln vs INR 53.95 bln year ago
-- Bharti Airtel Apr-Dec consol sales INR 1.251 tln vs INR 1.124 tln yr ago
-- Bharti Airtel: Oct-Dec one-time income INR 75.46 bln
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec consol EBITDA INR 248.80 bln vs INR 220.21 bln qtr ago
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec consol EBITDA margin 55.1% vs 53.1% qtr ago
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India revenue INR 346.54 bln, up 24.6% on year
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India EBITDA INR 198.50 bln, up 32.3% on year
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India EBITDA margin 57.3%
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India capex INR 79.80 bln
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India mobile ARPU INR 245 vs INR 208 year ago
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India mobile revenue up 21.4% on year
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec pre-paid INR 36.26 bln spectrum dues
-- Bharti Airtel:Industry needs 'further tariff repair' to sustain investment
-- Bharti Airtel consol customer base 576.98 mln on Dec 31, up 2.5% on qtr
-- Bharti Airtel India customer base 413.87 mln on Dec 31, up 1.8% on qtr
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec net debt INR 1.337 tln, down 9% on year
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec India mobile data usage/user 24.5 GB/mo vs 22.0 GB
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec Airtel business revenue INR 56.46 bln, up 9% on year
-- Bharti Airtel Oct-Dec passive infra revenue INR 75.48 bln, up 5% on year
 

 

By Rajesh Gajra

 

NEW DELHI – The sequential top line growth of telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd. in the December quarter met Street expectations, aided by consolidation of financials of Indus Towers Ltd., along with strong growth in its Africa operations, and its India business. However, the sequential growth momentum in revenue from its India mobile services, which contributes significantly to the company's total revenue, slowed in the December quarter as compared to the high sequential growth in the September quarter.

 

Bharti Airtel's bottom line performance was aided by revenue growth and a substantial exceptional income recognition from the Indus Towers consolidation, effective Nov. 19. In the December quarter, Bharti Airtel's consolidated net profit rose nearly four times on quarter, and six times on year to INR 147.81 billion. Helping this strong growth was the one-time gain of INR 75.46 billion, and a revenue growth of 8.8% on quarter, and 19% on year, to INR 451.29 billion. Analysts had estimated the company's consolidated revenue to be INR 438.77 billion. 

 

In the India mobile services segment of the company, the revenue increased 5.8% sequentially to INR 262.69 billion, and made up for 58% of the total consolidated revenue for the December quarter. The growth rate was substantially below 10.3% on-quarter rise in revenue from this segment reported in the September quarter. This indicated a normalisation of the segment's revenue as the effect of the tariff hike was first seen in Jul-Sept. Mobile tariffs were hiked by the company in July.

 

On a year-on-year basis, revenue from the India mobile services segment was up 21%. This was mainly due to low base effect as the year-ago quarter did not have the tariff hike effect. Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Gopal Vittal said in a earnings press release that the telecom industry needed "further tariff repair to ensure sustained investments."

 

Revenue generated from the Africa business of Bharti Airtel was at INR 107.03 billion in the December quarter, up 5.3% on quarter, but in constant currency terms the growth was a little higher, rising 5.6% to $1.33 billion.

In the company's business-to-consumer segments, apart from India mobile services and Africa operations, the revenue from the home services business increased 5.4% sequentially to INR 15.09 billion in Oct-Dec, while the revenue from digital TV services went up marginally to INR 7.61 billion. In the business-to-business segments, revenue from the Airtel Business or Airtel Enterprise operations recorded a marginal 0.2% sequential decline, and an on-year increase of 9%, to INR 56.46 billion. In the passive infrastructure services operations under Indus Towers, the revenue was up sequentially by only 1.1% to INR 75.47 billion in the December quarter, although on a year-on-year basis, the growth was 5%.

 

Bharti Airtel's profitability growth metrics were mixed across segments in Oct-Dec. The consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation, or EBITDA, rose 13% on quarter to INR 248.80 billion, and the EBITDA margin expanded to 55.1% from 53.1% in the previous quarter.

 

The consolidated EBITDA growth of 13% on quarter was aided by lower increases in all the operating expense items of the company. The biggest item, network operating expenses, recorded a 8% sequential increase to INR 86.27 billion, while licence fee and spectrum change costs increased only 3% to INR 35.70 billion, and access charges increased 8% to INR 19.64 billion. The increase in license fee and spectrum change costs in the December quarter was substantially below the 10% rise in the September quarter.

 

Bharti Airtel said in a press release that it has decided to disclose a net profitability metric, EBITDAaL, which basically adjusts for lease obligations. The EBITDAaL, according to the company, "treats the lease obligations as part of committed expenses which reflects a more real position of both profitability and leverage." Data from the company's earnings investor presentation showed that the consolidated EBITAaL rose 15% on quarter to INR 260.34 billion.

 

The total India business of Bharti Airtel, encompassing mobile, home services, digital TV services, Airtel Enterprise, and Indus Towers' partial-period consolidation during the quarter, recorded a revenue growth of 10% sequentially, and 25% on year, to INR 346.54 billion. The India business EBITDA jumped 32% on year to INR 198.50 billion Oct-Dec, while the India EBITDA margin was at 57.3% for the quarter.

 

The revenue and EBITDA growth in the India business came on the back of growth in key operational metrics. As of Dec. 31, the India customer base was 413.87 million, up 1.8% from the previous quarter. In contrast, the consolidated customer base rose 2.5% on quarter to 576.98 billion as of Dec. 31.

 

In the India mobile services business, the average revenue per user inched up to INR 245 in the December quarter from INR 233 in Jul-Sept and INR 208 in the year-ago quarter. The India mobile data usage per user also inched up to 24.5 gigabytes per month from 23.9 gigabytes in Jul-Sept and 22.0 gigabtes in the year-ago quarter.

 

Bharti Airtel's consolidated net debt was INR 1.966 trillion as of Dec. 31, against INR 2.056 trillion as of Sept. 30 and INR 1.924 trillion a year ago. Excluding lease obligations, the company's consolidated net was INR 1.337 trillion as of Dec. 31 against INR 1.447 trillion a quarter ago and INR 1.469 trillion a year ago. The company said it prepaid INR 36.26 billion in December towards deferred liabilities to the Department of Telecom on spectrum acquired in 2016. "With this, Airtel has now prepaid all its spectrum dues that had interest costs higher than 8.65%," the company said.

 

In Apr-Dec, Bharti Airtel's consolidated net profit was INR 225.34 billion, substantially higher by over 4 times from the same period in the previous year. The company's consolidated revenue in the nine months up to December was up 11% on year at INR 1.251 trillion.

 

On Thursday, shares of the company ended 2.5% down at INR 1,619.75 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

 

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