Bharti Airtel (Airtel), India’s premier communications solutions provider, on Tuesday posted a 63 percent dip in its profit for the April to June 2021 quarter (Q1 FY22) to Rs.283 crore as compared to Rs.759 in the last quarter of the previous financial year (Q4 FY21).
In the year-ago June quarter, it had posted a loss of Rs.15,933 crore due to one-time provisioning for adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues.
The consolidated revenues for Q1 FY22 stood at Rs.26.854 crore, up 21 percent year-on-year on a comparable basis and 15 percent on a reported basis, ANI reported.
Airtel’s India revenues were up 19 percent to Rs.18,828 crore on a comparable basis and 11 percent on a reported basis. Mobile revenues grew by 22 percent year-on-year on a comparable basis due to improved realizations as well as strong 4G customer addition.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter came in at Rs146, which the company said was an outcome of a focus on acquiring quality customers as well as secular upgrading of customers to data.
“While our wireless revenue was impacted by the Covid lockdown induced slowdown in terms of device shipments and a financial squeeze at the lower end of the market, our overall performance reflected the resilience and strength of our portfolio,” said Gopal Vittal, Airtel’s Managing Director and CEO for India and South Asia.
“We continue to invest in the best of emerging technologies, including networks and digital capabilities,” he added.
The company’s consolidated earnings before the interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during Q1 FY22 totaled Rs.13,189 crore, while margins improved to 49.1 percent.
“We added 5.1 million 4G customers during the quarter and our enterprise business in India continued to deliver strongly. Our Homes business grew by just about 13 percent over last year and added 285K customers in the quarter, the highest ever,” said Vittal.