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Informist, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026

By Shakshi Jain

MUMBAI – Telecommunications infrastructure provider Indus Towers Ltd. is expected to report a marginal sequential decline in its consolidated bottom line for the December quarter due to a high base effect despite a low single-digit rise in its top line. In the September quarter, the company had written back INR 1.95 billion in provisions for doubtful receivables, which would create a high base for the reporting quarter. The company is not expected to report any doubtful-debt write-backs for the December quarter, given that Vodafone Idea has paid all its undisputed dues.

On a year-on-year basis, the company's consolidated net profit is expected to fall by more than half as it had reversed INR 30.24 billion in provisions for doubtful receivables in the year-ago quarter.

Indus Towers' consolidated bottom line for the reporting quarter is expected to decline 1.4% sequentially and by almost 55% on year to INR 18.13 billion, according to the average of estimates from five brokerages. The highest estimate for net profit is INR 18.55 billion by Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. and the lowest is INR 17.73 billion by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

The top line of the company is expected to rise marginally sequentially and by double digits year on year, helped by net additions of towers and co-locations. Indus Towers is a key beneficiary of Vodafone Idea Ltd.'s network expansion and of incremental rollouts by its parent Bharti Airtel Ltd.

The company's consolidated top line for the December quarter is expected to rise 1.5% sequentially and 10% on year to INR 83.09 billion, according to the average of estimates. The highest estimate for revenue is INR 84.99 billion by Kotak Securities Ltd. and the lowest is INR 81.69 billion by JM Financial Institutional Securities Pvt. Ltd.

Analysts estimate the company to have net added 3,500-5,000 towers sequentially in the December quarter. It is expected to have added 3,750–10,000 co-locations or net tenants in the December quarter, brokerages said.

In the September quarter, Indus Towers had net added 4,301 towers sequentially alongside 4,505 co-locations.

Co-location is the practice of mounting telecom antennae of multiple carriers or operators on the same tower. Net tenancy addition is the change in the number of telecom companies or tenants using a company's towers over a specific period, calculated as new leases minus exits.

OPERATIONAL METRICS

Indus Towers' earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the December quarter are expected to decline nearly 3% sequentially and 36% on year to INR 44.18 billion, according to the average of estimates. Adjusted for one-offs and provision write-offs, the company's EBITDA for the reporting quarter is expected to improve by about 2% on quarter, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Kotak Securities expects Indus Towers' EBITDA for the December quarter to grow 1.4% sequentially after excluding the one-off items. This growth is expected to be "led by improved tenancies and tower additions, partially offset by higher costs on a qoq (quarter-on-quarter) basis," the brokerage said.

For the trailing quarter, Indus Towers had reported a consolidated net profit of INR 18.39 billion on revenues of INR 81.88 billion. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported a consolidated net profit of INR 40.03 billion on revenues of INR 75.47 billion. The company will announce its December quarter earnings Monday.

Friday, shares of Indus Towers ended at INR 444.30 on the National Stock Exchange, up 0.6%. The stock is up nearly 20% since the company reported its September-quarter results. It is down 2.3% from its 52-week high of INR 454.95, recorded on Jan. 9.

Of the five research recommendations on Indus Towers available with Informist, two each have a 'buy' and 'sell' recommendation on the stock and one has a 'hold' call. The average target price of the 'buy' recommendations is INR 448 and that of the 'sell' call is INR 343. This is 0.8% higher and 22.8% lower than the current market price, respectively.

The following are the Oct-Dec earnings estimates for Indus Towers from five brokerages in descending order of the estimate of net profit in INR billion:

End

Edited by Saji George Titus

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