Bharti Airtel delivered exceptional Q2FY27 results with profit surging 33% year-on-year to ₹9,015 crore, significantly outpacing analyst expectations of ₹9,146 crore (JPMorgan) and ₹9,955 crore (Nuvama). The telecom giant's consolidated revenue grew 16.7% YoY to ₹60,878 crore, with India revenue increasing 9.4% to ₹42,308 crore and Africa operations growing 25.7% in reported terms. ARPU reached ₹271, growing 5.9% YoY, substantially outpacing Jio's ARPU of ₹218.8, which increased 3.5% YoY. The ARPU gap widened to ₹52 per month from ₹45 a year earlier, demonstrating Airtel's superior customer monetization strategy through faster migration to postpaid plans and costlier plans. However, the company missed analyst profit estimates due to high network operating costs impacting margins, with gains from subscriber additions and upgrades to costlier plans offset by operational expenses.
Airtel executed a successful postpaid strategy, adding a record 1.2 million postpaid customers during Q2, expanding the base to 31.2 million users. The company also added 2.9 million smartphone data users, who now comprise 81% of its mobile base. However, India mobile subscriber growth moderated to 716,000 users, taking the total base to 377.2 million, down from 3.3 million in the June quarter. Monthly churn increased to 2.9% from 2.6%, reflecting the trade-off between premiumization and subscriber growth. In contrast, Jio added 9.1 million subscribers, taking its base to 542.4 million, maintaining its leadership in subscriber additions. The India mobile postpaid subscriber base increased 13.5% to 31.24 million, while India 4G and 5G data customer base grew 6.6% to 304.63 million. Average data usage per subscriber per month increased 6.1% quarter-on-quarter to 36.5 GB, compared to Jio's 44.2 GB, indicating strong data consumption trends despite slower subscriber additions.
Airtel's consolidated EBITDA increased 18% to ₹35,240 crore with margin expanding to 57.9% from 57.4%. India EBITDA stood at ₹25,729 crore at a margin of 60.8%, compared to Jio's 54.1% margin, though business mix differs significantly. The company's net debt-to-EBITDA ratio improved to 1.18 from 1.63 a year ago, while net debt excluding lease obligations fell 30% to ₹88,277 crore. Consolidated net income before exceptional items was 11.9% higher than Q1's ₹8,057 crore, with profit before tax increasing 27% to ₹15,608 crore. Capex remained heavy at ₹12,467 crore, including ₹2,826 crore for a strategic land parcel for data centre expansion through Nxtra unit. Consolidated capex increased 10% to ₹12,467 crore from ₹11,362 crore year-earlier, with Africa capex reaching ₹2,559 crore, representing 48.8% growth in rupee terms.
Airtel's homes services customer base increased 28.9% year-on-year to 15.37 million, adding approximately 676,000 customers during the quarter. However, broadband ARPU declined to ₹509 from ₹534 a year earlier, representing a 4.6% decrease. Airtel Business revenue increased 11.4% to ₹5,877.9 crore, supported by enterprise connectivity and digital services, while Digital TV customer base reached 15.56 million with ARPU at ₹163. The company announced a strategic collaboration with ITI Limited to accelerate digital transformation among Indian enterprises and expanded consumer digital services through a partnership with Apple, offering enhanced benefits for family postpaid plans priced ₹999 and above. India mobile revenue increased 10.1% year-on-year and 3.4% sequentially to ₹30,943 crore, backed by the company's strategy of portfolio premiumisation and winning quality customers.
Airtel's stock closed down 0.52% at ₹2,056.90 on Thursday despite the strong quarterly results, as investors remained cautious ahead of the earnings announcement. The decline came despite the Sensex surging to its biggest single day high in seven months, closing at 79,310, up 2,008 points. Looking ahead, Executive Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal highlighted the company's growth engines, stating that "Our new growth engines continue to gain momentum" and emphasizing the strategic land parcel investment as a step towards building 1 GW of data centre capacity. In Financial Services, Vittal noted "early traction following the commercial launch has been very encouraging" with digital platforms and advanced data analytics providing a strong foundation for scaling the business. The market will closely watch how Airtel's stock performs on Friday morning and whether the company can maintain its ARPU leadership over Jio.
