Bharti Airtel Q3 Results: Profit Drops 25% On One-Time Loss Amid 5G Rollout
Bharti Airtel's Q3 profit fell 25.87% sequentially to Rs 1,590 crore.
Bharti Airtel Ltd. has reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit even as it earned more from each user amid the 5G rollout.
Net profit of India's second largest telecom operator fell 25.87% over the previous quarter to Rs 1,590 crore in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with the Rs 3,189-crore consensus estimate of analysts tracked by Bloomberg.
Bharti Airtel Q3 Key Highlights (QoQ)
Revenue up 3.70% at Rs 35,804 crore (Estimate: Rs 35,727 crore)
Ebitda was up 5.14% at Rs 18,710 crore (Estimate: Rs 18,666 crore)
Ebitda margin at 52.25% vs 51.54%
Net profit down 25.87% at Rs 1,590 crore (Estimate: Rs 3,189 crore)
The company incurred a one-time loss of Rs 670 crore during the October-December period, its earnings statement showed.
"We continue to optimise the capital structure by judiciously allocating capital across our businesses to strengthen the balance sheet," Bharti Airtel said in a statement accompanying the quarterly results on Tuesday.
The average revenue per user, or APRU, of the company increased 1.6% sequentially to Rs 193, against an estimate of Rs 198.97.
The subscriber base grew 2.85% quarter-on-quarter to 138.50 million as of Dec. 31, even as net additions rose 4.2% to 3.84 million.
Bharti Airtel had a capex of Rs 9,310 crore in the December quarter even as net debt fell 1.2% to $25.3 billion (Rs 2.07 lakh crore).
"Our strategy of winning quality customers has helped us add 6.4 million 4G customers and exit the quarter with an industry-leading ARPU of Rs 193," Gopal Vitthal, chief executive at Bharti Airtel, said in the statement. "Postpaid, Enterprise, Homes as well as our Africa business sustained their momentum while the DTH business showed signs of growth in an industry that continues to be under pressure."
"Our 5G rollout is on track to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024," he added.
On Tuesday, shares of Bharti Airtel fell 0.51% to Rs 785.35 apiece during trade, even as the benchmark Sensex ended 0.37% lower at 60,286.04. The results were declared after market hours.