Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Tuesday, November 2 reported a 300 per cent sequential increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,134 crore for the second quarter of the current fiscal year. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 283 crore in the first quarter ending June 30.
The company also revealed its revenue generated from primary operations to be Rs 28,326 crores in the July-September quarter, up 5.4 per cent sequentially from the revenue of Rs 26,853 it had posted in the first quarter this year. The revenue surpassed analysts’ forecast of Rs. 27,811 crore for the reported quarter.
On a YoY basis, the operational revenue was up 13 per cent from the revenue of Rs 25,060 it had posted in the corresponding quarter last year. In a statement released following the announcement, Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO of Bharti Airtel, stated that the high degree of financial flexibility maintained by the company has resulted in it achieving Nil bank debt for its operating businesses in India.
The Indian mobile services business recorded a strong 6.2 per cent on-quarter growth in revenues to Rs. 15,191 crore. On a year-on-year basis, the growth was up 20.3 per cent from the mobile services business in India. Moreover, the Africa mobile business generated growth of 5.1 per cent in the quarter for the company, reporting revenue of Rs 8,591 crore.
The growth in its mobile service business in India has been accounted to a continued expansion of Bharti Airtel’s 4G customer base and an increase in its Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). The ARPU for the quarter under review rose to Rs 153 as compared to Rs 143 in the same period last year.
“Our strategy of focusing on quality customers has been validated by the strong price flow and ARPU increase that we have seen in our wireless business,” Said Vittal in the statement. In the home business segment, Bharti Airtel clocked a revenue increase of 21.3 per cent in the last year while its Digital TV business revenue was up 5.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
The second quarter of the current fiscal saw the highest ever growth in net customers in Bharti Airtel’s home business segment, with additions of 4,67,000 customers. Meanwhile, its digital TV user base stood at 18 million during the quarter under review.
Vittal believes that the strong performance displayed by Bharti Airtel’s other enterprises and home businesses is a marker of the resilience and strength of its overall portfolio. He also expressed his optimism regarding the future of the company’s new businesses such as Airtel Payments Bank, Data Centres. On Tuesday, the company’s shares rose 0.43 per cent to settle at Rs 715.55 a share on the NSE ahead of the quarter two results announcement.