More Stories

Informist, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025

 

By Shakshi Jain

 

NEW DELHI – Telecommunications major Bharti Airtel Ltd. is expected to post a low single-digit sequential growth in its top line for the September quarter, driven by a steady rise in subscribers of the wireless business in India. The company's quarter-on-quarter bottom line growth for the reporting quarter is expected to surpass the top line growth due to higher average revenue per user, according to analysts.

 

If Bharti Airtel's September quarter results are in line with the consensus estimates, it would be the company's lowest sequential top line growth in six quarters but the best bottom line performance in three quarters. The telecom giant had seen a sharp sequential decline in its net profit in the last two trailing quarters after recording a more than four-fold growth in the December quarter due to a substantial exceptional income recognition from consolidation of Indus Towers.

 

Bharti Airtel's consolidated top line for the September quarter is expected to rise 2% sequentially to INR 505.36 billion, according to the average of estimates from seven brokerages. On a year-on-year basis, the company's revenue is expected to grow almost 22%. The highest estimate for revenue is INR 514.34 billion by Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. and the lowest is INR 480.31 billion by brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt. Ltd.

 

The company's consolidated bottom line for the September quarter is expected to rise 9% sequentially and 80% on year to INR 64.61 billion. The highest estimate for net profit is INR 70.89 billion from Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd. and the lowest is INR 53.84 billion from Prabhudas Lilladher. 

 

Bharti Airtel net added almost 1.4 million mobile users in Jul-Sept, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. This is slightly higher than the 1.21 million mobile users net added by the company in the June quarter, as per data released by the regulatory body. The company's customer base in India was 436 million users as of Jun. 30.

 

The India mobile services segment of Bharti Airtel contributes the most to the consolidated top line and operating profit of the company. Brokerages expect Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user for the September quarter to increase to INR 253-INR 255 from INR 250 in the June quarter due to an improved subscriber-mix and an additional day in the quarter.

 

Nuvama expects Bharti Airtel's India revenue to grow 1.9% on quarter and that of the Africa business to grow 4.7% sequentially for the September quarter.

 

Airtel Africa Plc, the overseas listed subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, caters to telecom customers in 14 countries across Africa. It accounted for 24% of the company's consolidated revenue in the June quarter and 36% of the profit before tax.

 

The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation are expected to grow just about a percent sequentially and 29% on year to INR 284.57 billion for the September quarter, according to the average of estimates from seven brokerages. The EBITDA estimates range between INR 268.98 billion by Prabhudas Lilladher and INR 291.38 billion by JM Financial Institutional Securities Pvt. Ltd.

 

JM Financial expects a 2.1% sequential rise in the company's wireless business EBITDA and a 2.2% growth in that of the enterprise business. The company's enterprise, or business-to-business segment, branded Airtel Business, has been exiting low-margin businesses.

 

Brokerage Motilal Oswal said a good show by the home services segment and the Africa business will be offset by lower margins in the company's enterprise business. The brokerage estimates Airtel's September quarter consolidated EBITDA will grow 3% on quarter.

 

Bharti Airtel had reported a consolidated net profit of INR 59.48 billion for the June quarter on revenues of INR 494.63 billion. In the year-ago quarter, the company's consolidated net profit was INR 35.93 billion on revenues of INR 414.73 billion.

 

Bharti Airtel will announce its September quarter results Monday. Investors will watch out for the company management's commentary on adoption of fifth-generation cellular technology, capex trajectory, and plans on future tariff hikes, brokerages said.

 

At 1406 IST, shares of Bharti Airtel traded at INR 2,062 on the National Stock Exchange, down 1.8%. The stock is up almost 7% since the company reported its results for the June quarter on Aug. 5. 

 

Of the 16 research recommendations on the stock available with Informist, 14 have a "buy" rating on Bharti Airtel while one each has a "hold" rating and a "sell" recommendation. The average target price of the "buy" recommendations is INR 1,980.

 

Following are the Jul-Sept earnings estimates for Bharti Airtel from seven brokerages in descending order of the estimate of net profit in INR million:

 

Broking Firm	Net Sales	Net Profit	EBITDA
Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd	506,306	70,887	284,319
Kotak Securities Ltd	508,339	70,779	285,886
JM Financial Institutional Securities Pvt Ltd	511,229	65,192	291,383
Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd	510,584	64,952	286,834
ICICI Securities Ltd	506,398	63,728	284,493
Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd	514,344	62,923	290,075
Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt Ltd	480,313	53,841	268,975
Average	505,359	64,614.57	284,566.43

 

End

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Vandana Hingorani

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.