Bharti Airtel posts 31% profit rise in Q2 FY27 on higher revenue and ARPU
The telecom operator reported a 31% year-on-year increase in net profit to Rs 8,887.5 crore for the September quarter, driven by revenue growth, higher average revenue per user and strong customer additions.
Bharti Airtel announced a 31% year-on-year jump in net profit to Rs 8,887.5 crore for the September quarter (Q2 FY27), up from Rs 6,791.6 crore a year earlier. Consolidated revenue rose 16.7% YoY to Rs 60,878 crore, while India mobile revenue grew 10.1% and average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to Rs 271 from Rs 256.
EBITDA climbed 17.8% YoY to Rs 35,240 crore. In India, revenue rose 9.4% to Rs 42,308 crore, supported by premiumisation of the mobile portfolio and strong smartphone data customer additions. The Homes segment posted a 25.3% revenue gain, adding 676,000 customers to a total of 15.4 million. Airtel Business revenue grew 11.4%, and digital TV revenue rose 2.4% to Rs 771 crore.
Across its African operations, revenue increased 25.7% YoY in reported currency, with a customer base of 193.9 million. The company’s net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 1.18 from 1.63, and the ratio excluding lease obligations stood at 0.70.
Airtel added 2.9 million smartphone data customers sequentially, bringing the total to 81% of its mobile base, and recorded a record 1.2 million net postpaid additions, raising the postpaid base to 31.2 million. Mobile data usage grew 36.5% YoY to 36.5 GB per customer per month. Network expansion included 497 new towers and 11,684 mobile broadband base stations.
"We delivered another quarter of consistent growth, supported by our diversified business portfolio," said Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel. He highlighted Africa’s strong performance and noted sequential revenue growth of 2.7% in India, attributing mobile gains to premiumisation and quality-customer acquisition. Vittal also pointed to momentum in the Homes business, Airtel Business, and newer initiatives such as financial services and data-centre development, including a strategic land investment for a 1 GW data-centre capacity.
Shares closed 0.52% lower at Rs 2,056.90, with the stock down about 3% year-to-date and a market capitalisation of roughly Rs 12.84 lakh crore.