Bharti Airtel Q3 Results: Net profit jumps 91% to Rs 1,588 crore, ARPU at Rs 193 — both miss analysts' estimates

Bharti Airtel on Tuesday — led by billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal — reported a net profit of Rs 1,588.2 crore for the quarter ended December 2022, a jump of 91.4 per cent compared with the corresponding period a year ago, missing analysts' estimates. The telecom major's revenue increased 19.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 35,804.4 crore, according to a regulatory filing. 

The company's mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) — a key metric that determines the amount of income a telecom company generates from each of its subscribers — improved by Rs 30 to Rs 193 compared with the year-ago period. 

According to Zee Business research, Bharti Airtel's quarterly net profit was estimated at Rs 2,900 crore and revenue at Rs 35,100 crore. The analysts had pegged the telecom giant's ARPU at Rs 195.

Revenue from its India business increased 19.4 per cent to Rs 24,962 crore, and that from its Africa unit grew 18 per cent in constant currency terms, according to a company statement. 

"We have delivered another quarter of consistent and competitive growth across all our businesses... Our strategy of winning quality customers has helped us add 6.4 million 4G customers and exit the quarter with an industry leading ARPU," said Gopal Vittal, MD, Bharti Airtel.

He also said Bharti Airtel is on track with its 5G rollout to cover all towns and key rural areas by March 2024.

The company said its mobile data consumption increased 22.5 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 20.3 GB per customer per month. 

Bharti Airtel shares ended lower by Rs 4.1 or 0.5 per cent at Rs 785.4 apiece on BSE ahead of the earnings announcement.

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