India’s second-largest telecom company, Bharti Airtel, clocked a 50 percent jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 3,006 crore for the quarter ended March 2023 from Rs 2,008 crore a year back. Sequentially, it was a surge of 89 percent.
Revenue from operations stood at Rs 36,009 crore, up 14 percent from Rs 31,500 crore reported a year ago. Revenue was up marginally 1 percent sequentially, Bharti Airtel said in an exchange filing.
Although the company beat estimates at the profit level, it missed topline expectations. Analysts expected a 15 percent YoY and 46 percent QoQ growth in net profit with projected revenue growth of 16 percent YoY and 2 percent QoQ, as per a Moneycontrol poll.
Consolidated EBITDA was at Rs 18,807 crore during the quarter, up 18 percent on-year and 1 percent on-quarter. EBITDA margin for the quarter was at 52.2 percent, as against 50.8 percent in the corresponding quarter last year and 52.0 percent in the previous quarter.
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Mobile ARPU (average revenue per user) increased to Rs 193 against Rs 178 in Q4FY22. The company gained 23.3 million new 4G customers on a yearly basis and adding 7.4 million customers sequentially.
"This has been another strong quarter as we end the fiscal year having further strengthened our portfolio. Our consolidated revenue grew sequentially by 0.6 percent, while EBITDA margin expanded to 52.2 percent despite there being two fewer days in the quarter. Our focus on acquiring quality customers has resulted in 7.4 million new 4G customers, as we exit the quarter with an industry leading ARPU of Rs 193," said Gopal Vittal, MD, Bharti Airtel.
"A simple strategy and our relentless focus on execution has ensured that we close the year with market share gains across all businesses. We are also pleased to see the increased velocity of our digital deliveries across all parts of our business. This has been due to our sustained focus on digital platforms and talent."
He also highlighted that the company continues to ramp up 5G roll out and expect to connect all major towns and key villages by the end of this year.
Overall India revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 25,250 crore, up 12 percent YoY. India's EBITDA margin expanded 225 bps YoY for the quarter to 53.1 percent. As of March 20223, India's customer base stood at 375 million.
Mobile services India revenues, the biggest segment for the company increased 11.5 percent YoY, led by continued 4G customer additions and increase in ARPU.
Bharti Airtel's board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 4 per fully paid-up equity share of face value Rs 5 each and Rs 1 per partly paid-up equity share of face value Rs 5 each (paid-up Rs 1.25 per share) for FY22-23. The dividend is in proportion to the amount paid-up on each equity share of face value face value Rs 5 each.
On May 16, the company's shares closed 1.44 percent down on the NSE at Rs 785.60 a piece, with the benchmark Nifty closing 0.61 percent lower at 18,286.50 points.
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