Bharti Airtel Q3 Results: Revenue and EBITDA grow QoQ as ARPU rises; profit softens

Bharti Airtel Ltd delivered a healthy operational performance in the December quarter, supported by ARPU expansion, strong data usage and sustained growth across India, Africa and digital businesses.

Consolidated revenue rose 3.5% QoQ to ₹53,982 crore, while EBITDA increased 4% QoQ to ₹30,782 crore, lifting margins to 57% from 56.7% in the previous quarter. Net profit declined marginally 2.4% QoQ to ₹6,630.5 crore.

Ahead of the earnings announcement, shares of Bharti Airtel closed 1.7% lower at ₹1,992.20 on the NSE.

India, Africa drive momentum

India mobile revenue grew 9.1% YoY, supported by ARPU improvement and continued traction in smartphone data customers. Mobile ARPU rose to ₹259 up 1.2% QoQ.

Smartphone data customers increased by 20.8 million YoY and now account for 79% of total mobile customers, while average mobile data consumption climbed 29.2% YoY to 29.8 GB per user per month.

Africa delivered another strong quarter, with constant currency revenue growth of 5.8%, aided by Airtel’s in-house digital stack enhancing go-to-market execution.

Homes, digital services stand out

The Homes business continued to outperform, with revenues growing 32.6% YoY and record net additions of 1.16 million customers in the quarter, taking quarterly revenue run-rate beyond ₹2,000 crore.

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Airtel Business reported 1.5% sequential growth, led by adjacencies such as cloud, cybersecurity, IoT and digital services. Digital TV revenues were largely stable, while passive infrastructure services saw a marginal QoQ decline.

Strategic partnerships, outlook

During the quarter, Airtel entered multiple strategic partnerships, including with Google to set up India’s first AI hub in Visakhapatnam, with IBM to strengthen Airtel Cloud for AI workloads, and secured a multi-year cybersecurity contract from Indian Railways.

Commenting on the outlook, Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, said the company’s diversified portfolio, strong cash generation and continued deleveraging have strengthened the balance sheet, positioning Airtel well to invest in future growth opportunities, while maintaining momentum across core and digital businesses.