Shares of Bharti Airtel rose more than 2% to hit an intraday high of Rs 1,833 on the BSE on Thursday, despite the telecom major reporting a 34% year-on-year (YoY) decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 7,325 crore for the March quarter.
The telecom major recorded quarterly revenue of Rs 55,383 crore, reflecting a 16% YoY rise. Revenue growth during the quarter was supported by continued momentum in the India business and a strong performance from its Africa operations.
Revenue from India operations, including passive infrastructure services, rose 8% YoY to Rs 39,566 crore. The Africa business reported constant currency growth of 1.1% on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis.
Consolidated EBITDA increased 17% YoY to Rs 32,038 crore, while EBITDA margin improved by 60 basis points to 57.8%. India EBITDA stood at Rs 23,965 crore, with margins expanding to 60.6%.
Morgan Stanley maintained its “Overweight” rating on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 2,450, an upside of 37.5% from current levels. The Wall Street major cited stronger-than-expected India mobile revenues and EBITDA performance in the March quarter.
The global brokerage also pointed to the strong performance of the home services segment, where revenue surged 37.3% year-on-year, driven by expansion in broadband, WiFi and IPTV offerings.
Capex for the quarter stood at Rs 16,066 crore as the telecom operator accelerated investments in 5G densification, fibre deployment, connected homes, data centres and enterprise services.
The company's balance sheet continued to strengthen, with the consolidated net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improving to 1.29 times from 1.86 times a year ago. Consolidated net debt excluding lease obligations stood at 0.79 times EBITDAaL.
The company said India's mobile revenue grew 8% YoY, aided by portfolio premiumisation and higher smartphone penetration. Airtel added 5.8 million smartphone users and 0.8 million postpaid customers during the quarter. Average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at Rs 257.
The company also announced several strategic initiatives during the quarter. Airtel partnered with Google to strengthen spam protection and Rich Communication Services messaging capabilities for users in India. It also launched the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center in collaboration with Zscaler to improve cyber resilience and accelerate trusted AI adoption in India.
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