Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter stood at Rs 31,144 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 57.7%.
India revenues increased 13% YoY to Rs 39,226 crore and were up 1.4% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). India’s mobile revenue grew 9.1% YoY, supported by improved realisations and a growing customer base. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) came in at Rs 259 for the quarter, compared with Rs 245 in Q3FY25.
The company added 0.62 million postpaid customers during the quarter, taking the total postpaid base to 28.1 million. Smartphone data customers increased by 20.8 million over the last year, marking a 7.7% YoY rise.
During the quarter, Airtel deployed 1,147 towers and 16,338 mobile broadband base stations. Over the last nine months, the company added 5,457 towers and laid 30,000 kilometres of fibre to strengthen its digital infrastructure.
What should investors do?
Morgan Stanley has maintained an Overweight rating on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 2,435, noting that EBITDA came in above estimates, driven by strong performance in India operations. The brokerage highlighted that India’s mobile subscribers exceeded expectations with lower churn, while the homes business reported robust user growth and EBITDA expansion. Operating free cash flow improved on the back of lower capex, and net debt declined sharply, reflecting strong cash generation during the period.
The homes segment reported revenue growth of 33% YoY, supported by sustained customer additions. Airtel added 1.2 million customers during the quarter, taking the total home customer base to 13.1 million.During the quarter, Bharti Airtel entered into a strategic partnership with Google to set up India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.
The consolidated net debt to EBITDA ratio (annualised) stood at 1.47 times compared with 1.98 times as of December 2024. Consolidated net debt (excluding lease obligations) to EBITDAaL ratio (annualised) was at 1.02 times.
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