Bharti Airtel Q2 results: Profit more than doubles to Rs 8,651 crore; ARPU outpaces Jio amid premium user push

Bharti Airtel on Monday reported that its consolidated net profit more than doubled year-on-year to Rs 8,651 crore for the September quarter of FY26, driven by strong growth in high-value smartphone users and post-paid connections.The telecom major had posted a profit of Rs 4,153.4 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Its Africa arm also delivered a robust performance, with net income jumping to Rs 969 crore, PTI reported.Revenue from operations rose 26% to Rs 52,145 crore in the September quarter, compared with Rs 41,473.3 crore in the corresponding period last year. Airtel’s India revenue — including its share from Indus Towers — rose 22.6% year-on-year to Rs 38,690 crore. Excluding Indus Towers’ contribution, the company’s domestic revenue grew by 10%.“India revenue, including passive infrastructure services, increased by 2.9% sequentially. We delivered another quarter of solid performance, underscoring the strength of our portfolio,” said Gopal Vittal, vice-chairman and managing director, Bharti Airtel.He added that the Africa business “delivered another quarter of standout performance” with constant currency revenue growth of 7.1%. In rupee terms, Airtel Africa’s revenue climbed 36% year-on-year to Rs 13,679.5 crore.Airtel’s mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) — a key performance metric for telecom operators — stood at Rs 256, up 10% from Rs 233 a year ago, and well above Reliance Jio’s ARPU of Rs 211.4 for the same period.The company added 5.1 million smartphone customers during the quarter and reported one of its strongest ever net additions in the post-paid segment at nearly 1 million. “India mobile business delivered 2.6% revenue growth, maintaining an industry-leading ARPU of Rs 256 led by continued premiumisation of our portfolio and focus on quality customers,” Vittal said.Airtel’s total customer base grew 10.7% year-on-year to 62.35 crore, with 44.97 crore users in India. Smartphone data users rose by 2.22 crore over the past year, up 8.4% annually, while mobile data consumption per customer rose 26.6% to 28.3 GB per month — about 27% lower than Jio’s 38.7 GB average.The company’s total capital expenditure for the quarter stood at Rs 11,362 crore, with India accounting for Rs 9,643 crore. Domestic capex, excluding Indus Towers’ investment, rose 15% to Rs 7,203.3 crore from Rs 6,259.9 crore a year earlier.Bharti Airtel’s net debt fell 5% year-on-year to Rs 1,94,713 crore. Shares of the company closed 0.93% higher at Rs 2,073.75 on the BSE on Monday.