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Informist, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026

 

By Shakshi Jain

 

NEW DELHI – Telecommunications major Bharti Airtel Ltd. is expected to post a high single-digit sequential growth in its consolidated bottom line for the December quarter, driven by a higher average revenue per user. The company's top line for the reporting quarter is expected to rise by a low single digit, led by a healthy uptick in subscribers.

 

The company's consolidated bottom line for the reporting quarter is expected to grow 7.6% sequentially to INR 73.08 billion, as per the average of estimates from six brokerages. On a year-on-year basis, this would mean a growth of 1?ter excluding the one-time income of INR 75.46 billion the company had reported for the year-ago quarter from the consolidation of Indus Towers Ltd.

 

The Nifty 50 company's consolidated top line for the December quarter is expected to rise 3.4% sequentially and nearly 20% on year to INR 539.34 billion, according to the average of estimates. The highest revenue estimate is INR 550.37 billion by Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd. and the lowest is INR 530.03 billion by Kotak Securities Ltd.

 

The net profit estimates for the December quarter range from a high of INR 85.39 billion by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. to a low of INR 64.22 billion by Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd.

 

If Bharti Airtel's December-quarter results meet analysts' consensus estimates, the company's bottom line as well as top line growth would be slower than in the trailing quarter.

 

GROWTH LEVERS

JM Financial estimates Bharti Airtel added 5.4 million mobile broadband subscribers in the December quarter, higher than the 5.1 million added in the previous quarter. "...its overall subs (subscriber) addition is also expected to be healthy at 3.3 million," the brokerage said. The company net added 1.3 million mobile subscribers in October and 1.2 million customers in November, according to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.

 

Four brokerage firms –- ICICI Securities, Nuvama Wealth Management, Kotak Securities, and Motilal Oswal Financial Services -- expect Bharti Airtel's average revenue per user to increase to INR 258 in the December quarter from INR 256 in the trailing quarter. JM Financial has pegged the telecom player's ARPU at INR 259 for the quarter under review.

 

The sequential rise in ARPU will stem from premiumisation, specifically the shift of customers to higher-generation networks, brokerages said.

 

Analysts anticipate 1.3-2.6% sequential growth in the company's India mobile services revenue for the December quarter. This segment, which contributes the most to the consolidated top line and operating profit of the company, accounted for nearly 54% of Bharti Airtel's revenue from operations in the September quarter at INR 281.17 billion.

 

Nuvama expects a sequential growth of 9% in revenue from the Africa business in rupee terms for the reporting quarter. Airtel Africa Plc, the overseas listed subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, caters to telecom customers in 14 countries across Africa. The Africa mobile services segment had contributed over 26% to Bharti Airtel's consolidated revenue in the September quarter at INR 136.80 billion.

 

OPERATING PERFORMANCE

Bharti Airtel's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the December quarter are expected to rise 2.7% sequentially and almost 24% on year to INR 307.29 billion, according to the average of estimates. The highest EBITDA estimate is INR 315.84 billion from Nuvama and the lowest is INR 301.92 billion from ICICI Securities Ltd.

 

"Expect 3.3% QoQ (quarter-on-quarter) growth in consolidated EBITDA, aided by a healthy show in Homes (business) and Africa," brokerage Motilal Oswal said.

 

Nuvama expects a 10 basis-point sequential expansion in Bharti Airtel's consolidated EBITDA margin for the December quarter. In the trailing quarter, the company had registered an EBITDA margin of 57.4%.

 

For the September quarter, Bharti Airtel had reported a consolidated net profit of INR 67.92 billion on revenues of INR 521.45 billion. In the year-ago quarter, the company had registered a consolidated net profit of INR 147.81 billion on revenues of INR 451.29 billion. Bharti Airtel will announce its December quarter earnings Thursday.

 

At 1428 IST, shares of Bharti Airtel were at INR 2,029.60 on the National Stock Exchange, up 1.6% from the previous session. The stock is down over 2% since the company reported its results for the September quarter.

 

Of the nine research recommendations on Bharti Airtel available with Informist, eight have a 'buy' recommendation on the stock and one has a 'sell' call. The average target price of the 'buy' recommendations is INR 2,359. This is over 16% higher than the current market price.

 

Following are the Oct-Dec earnings estimates for Bharti Airtel from six brokerages in descending order of the estimate of net profit in INR billion:

 

Broking Firm	Net Sales	Net Profit	EBITDA
Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd	536.37	85.39	305.23
Nuvama Wealth Management Ltd	550.37	79.49	315.84
Kotak Securities Ltd	530.03	73.44	303.58
JM Financial Institutional Securities Pvt Ltd	545.02	68.69	311.78
ICICI Securities Ltd	535.64	67.27	301.92
Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd	538.62	64.22	305.41
Average	539.34	73.08	307.29

 

End

 

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

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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