BLOG
Bharti Airtel continues to report industry leading KPIs in Q2FY23
What's Buzzing
Bharti Airtel put up a robust performance with healthy growth on ARPUs and margin improvement.
Context
Overall India revenues were at Rs 24333 crore, up 4.3% QoQ, largely driven by healthy traction in India wireless business. Airtel’s India ARPU at Rs 190, up 3.6% QoQ (vs. 2% growth expectations), was driven by higher number of days and subscriber mix improvement. We highlight the overall ARPU improvement was better than Jio, which saw ~0.9% QoQ growth in ARPU. Overall sub base saw a modest addition of 0.5 mn QoQ at 327. 8 mn. It witnessed healthy 4G Net adds of ~5 mn during the quarter, with 4G data sub base at 210.3 mn (overall data customers base of 219.1 mn). The postpaid subscriber base also saw robust addition of ~283,000 subscribers at 18.3 million (mn). Consolidated EBITDA margins of 51%, were up 57 bps QoQ led by India wireless margins which were at 52.4% (up 116 bps QoQ), driven by lower SUC charges after new spectrum purchase.
Our Perspective
Bharti Airtel continues to report resilient numbers especially on the Indian wireless business front. The improvement in ARPUs and continued margin expansion remain a key positive. The non-wireless business momentum along with Africa performance, continues to be robust. The company maintained its stance of near term tariff hike, to boost return ratios. It is also looking to accelerate post-paid customer base (riding on weak competitive position of Vodafone Idea) and expand rural coverage to bridge gap with Jio. Favourable industry structure of three players (two being strong), government relief, tariff hike and fund raise puts Airtel in sweet spot to maintain its relative strength among peers with a formidable digital ecosystem offering.
Disclaimer – I ICICI Securities Ltd. ( I-Sec). Registered office of I-Sec is at ICICI Securities Ltd. - ICICI Venture House, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai - 400 025, India, Tel No : 022 - 6807 7100. I-Sec is acting as a distributor to solicit bond related products. All disputes with respect to the distribution activity, would not have access to Exchange investor redressal forum or Arbitration mechanism. The contents herein above shall not be considered as an invitation or persuasion to trade or invest. I-Sec and affiliates accept no liabilities for any loss or damage of any kind arising out of any actions taken in reliance thereon. Investments in securities market are subject to market risks, read all the related documents carefully before investing. The contents herein mentioned are solely for informational and educational purpose.
Related content
Blogs
Articles - Stocks
Advantages and Disadvantages of NPS
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at it...
Articles - Stocks
Advantages and Disadvantages of NPS
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at it...
Articles - Stocks
Advantages and Disadvantages of NPS
It is a long established fact that a reader will be distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at it...
Video
Video - Stocks
What is Book Value?
Book Value Explained – Find out what is book value in stocks in this video by ICICIdirect.com.
Video - Stocks
What is Book Value?
Book Value Explained – Find out what is book value in stocks in this video by ICICIdirect.com.
Video - Stocks
What is Book Value?
Book Value Explained – Find out what is book value in stocks in this video by ICICIdirect.com.