Bharti Airtel Ltd.'s consolidated net profit fell 12% sequentially in the second quarter of the current financial year, missing analysts' estimates.
The telecom giant reported a profit of Rs 4,153 crore during the July–September period as compared to Rs 4,159 crore in the previous quarter, according to an exchange filing on Monday. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg had a consensus estimate of Rs 4,398 crore.
Airtel Q2 FY25 Earnings Highlights (Consolidated, QoQ)
Revenue rose 8% to Rs 41,473.3 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 41,256 crore).
Operating profit up 9% to Rs 21,846.2 crore (Estimate: Rs 21,757 crore).
Margin at 52.7% versus 51.6% (Estimate: 51.8%).
Average revenue per user rose to Rs 233 versus Rs 211.
Exceptional loss of Rs 854 crore versus exceptional gain of Rs 735 crore.
During the quarter, Airtel rolled out an additional 5,000 towers and 15,200 mobile broadband stations to enhance connectivity and provide a better network experience.
It also launched India's first network-based, AI-powered spam detection solution to curb the country's spam menace. This spam detection software is a first-of-its-kind solution by a telecom service provider in the country. The tool will send real-time alerts to customers regarding all suspected spam calls and SMS. The solution is free of cost and will get auto activated for all Airtel customers without them having to raise a service request or download an app.
Airtel also entered into a strategic partnership with Apple to bring exclusive offers of Apple TV+ and Apple Music to Airtel customers in India.
"Our focus on winning quality customers and driving premiumisation has helped us add 4.2 million smartphone customers," Managing Director Gopal Vittal said. "We continue to expand our wi-fi coverage with fixed wireless access offerings to over 2,000 cities."
"We continue to invest in our digital businesses to diversify portfolio strength and drive long-term growth," Vittal said.
Shares of Airtel closed 0.05% lower at Rs 1,663.65 apiece on the BSE, compared to a 0.76% advance in the benchmark Sensex. The results were declared after market hours.