Bharti Airtel Q4 net profit jumps 5x to ₹11,022 cr; ARPU at ₹245

India's second-biggest telco Bharti Airtel has reported a 432% jump in consolidated net profit at ₹11,022 crore for the January-March quarter ended March 31, 2025, compared to ₹2,072 crore in the year-ago period, driven by premiumisation.

The company's consolidated revenues for Q4 FY25 at ₹47,876 crore grew 27.3% YoY, driven by growth in India and a rebound in reported currency revenue in Africa.

Consolidated EBITDA for Q4 FY25 came in at ₹27,404 crore, with an EBITDA margin of 57.2%. The company's India revenues for Q4 FY25 stood at ₹36,735 crore, up by 28.8% YoY. Mobile revenues grew 20.6% YoY, led by tariff repair and a focus on premiumising the portfolio and acquiring quality customers.

Gopal Vittal, Vice-Chairman and MD, says the Q4 growth was driven by premiumisation. "We added 6.6 million smartphone users and maintained an industry-leading ARPU of ₹245. Our Homes business saw a step up in customer net additions, resulting in sequential revenue growth of 5.8%. Our IPTV services are now live in over 2,000 cities, enhancing large large-screen viewing experience for customers. Airtel Business revenue moderation was in line with our strategy outlined last quarter to shed low-margin wholesale business while underlying growth continues to remain steady."

The company says it continues to deliver industry-leading ARPU (average revenue per user) growth. "ARPU for the quarter stood at ₹245 compared to ₹209 in Q4 FY24. We have reinforced our leadership position in the postpaid segment, achieving continued momentum with net additions of 0.6 million in Q4 FY25, resulting in a total customer base of 25.9 million. Our market share in the smartphone segment improved with the addition of 24.0 million users, an increase of 9.5% YoY."

During the quarter, the company installed 3.3k additional towers and 13.6k mobile broadband stations to expand its network footprint and enhance customer experience nationwide. "We added approximately 19.9k towers YoY and deployed 44.4k kms of fibre YoY."

Bharti Airtel and Apple entered into a strategic partnership to bring Apple TV+ streaming services and Apple Music to Airtel customers in Q4. It will allow Airtel customers to access drama and comedy series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment.

The company says the Homes business saw improved momentum, with revenue growth of 21.3% YoY, driven by customer additions. "During the quarter, we accelerated our FWA expansion, which supported an uptick in net additions of 812k customers, reaching a total base of 10.0 million."

Airtel says its IPTV service is now available across India, except for Delhi, Rajasthan, Assam, and the Northeastern states, where the launch is expected soon. "Airtel Business revenue declined by 2.7% YoY, impacted by portfolio transformation, as we moved away from low-margin global wholesale commodity voice and messaging services."

Airtel's Digital TV posted a revenue of ₹764 crore, with a customer base of 15.9 million. Consolidated EBITDA increased 39.9% YoY to ₹27,404 crore in Q4 FY25, while EBITDA margin stood at 57.2%, with India EBITDA margin at 60.0% in Q4 FY25.

The company says it prepaid ₹5,985 crore in March 2025 towards deferred liabilities to DoT for the spectrum purchased in 2024. For FY25, its board recommended a final dividend of ₹16 per fully paid-up equity share of face value ₹5 and ₹4 per partly paid-up equity share of face value ₹5.

Shares of Bharti Airtel closed 2.74% higher at ₹1,820.95 on the BSE today.