Bharti Airtel posted a 31% year-on-year rise in net profit to Rs 8,887.5 crore for the September quarter (Q2FY27), with consolidated revenue up 16.7% to Rs 60,878 crore. India mobile revenue grew 10.1% and ARPU rose to Rs 271 from Rs 256. EBITDA climbed 17.8% to Rs 35,240 crore, while the Homes business added 676,000 customers to reach 15.4 million. Postpaid net additions hit a record 1.2 million, Africa revenue rose 25.7% in reported currency, and net debt-to-EBITDA improved to 1.18 from 1.63.
According to economictimes.indiatimes.com, Bharti Airtel reported a 31% year-on-year increase in net profit to Rs 8,887.5 crore for the September quarter (Q2FY27), compared with Rs 6,791.6 crore in the same quarter a year earlier. Consolidated revenue rose 16.7% to Rs 60,878 crore from Rs 52,145 crore in Q2FY26.
India mobile and ARPU trends
India mobile revenue grew 10.1% year on year, while average revenue per user climbed to Rs 271 in Q2FY27 from Rs 256 a year earlier, the report said, reflecting improved customer realisations. Total India revenue increased 9.4% to Rs 42,308 crore.
The company attributed the mobile performance to premiumisation of its customer portfolio, higher ARPU and strong additions of smartphone data customers. Postpaid net additions reached 1.2 million in the quarter — described as its strongest-ever single-quarter performance — lifting the postpaid base to 31.2 million.
Airtel added 2.9 million smartphone data customers sequentially, taking such users to 81% of its overall mobile customer base. Smartphone data customer additions over the past year stood at 18.8 million, while mobile data consumption rose 36.5% year on year to 36.5 GB per customer per month.
Homes, business and Africa segments
The Homes business remained a key growth driver, with revenue up 25.3% year on year. The segment added 676,000 customers during the quarter, taking its total base to 15.4 million.
Airtel Business reported an 11.4% year-on-year revenue increase, driven by broad-based growth across core connectivity and digital services. Digital TV revenue rose 2.4% to Rs 771 crore, supported by growing adoption of IPTV services.
Africa revenue increased 25.7% year on year in reported currency and 20.6% in constant currency, with a customer base of 193.9 million. Across operations in 15 countries, Airtel’s total customer base expanded to 693 million, aided by quarterly net additions of 12 million customers across India and Africa.
Balance sheet and capital expenditure
Operating performance stayed strong, with EBITDA growing 17.8% year on year to Rs 35,240 crore, compared with Rs 29,919 crore a year earlier. Consolidated net debt-to-EBITDA on an annualised basis improved to 1.18 from 1.63 as of September 30, 2025, while the net debt-to-EBITDAaL ratio excluding lease obligations stood at 0.70.
Consolidated capital expenditure for the quarter was Rs 12,467 crore, including Rs 9,908 crore in India. The company also invested Rs 2,826 crore in a strategic land parcel for data centre expansion, part of its ambition to build 1 GW of data centre capacity.
On the network side, Airtel added 497 towers and 11,684 mobile broadband base stations during the quarter. Over the past year it added 5,649 towers and 44,718 kilometres of fibre.
Management commentary
Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel, said the company delivered another quarter of consistent growth on the back of its diversified portfolio. He highlighted Africa’s 6.7% sequential revenue growth in constant currency, partly credited to deploying Airtel’s homegrown technology stack across markets.
“The India mobile business continued to benefit from our portfolio premiumisation strategy and focus on acquiring quality customers.” — Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel
India business revenue recorded sequential growth of 2.7%, with the mobile segment up 3.4% and Airtel Business up 3.8% quarter on quarter. Vittal said newer initiatives including financial services and data centres are gaining traction, and that the company remains focused on a strong balance sheet backed by robust cash generation and disciplined capital allocation.
Share performance
Bharti Airtel shares ended Thursday’s session 0.52% lower at Rs 2,056.90 on the NSE, against the previous close of Rs 2,067.60. The stock traded in a range of Rs 2,048-2,084 during the session and has declined nearly 3% so far this year.
At the prevailing market price, the telecom major’s market capitalisation stood at approximately Rs 12.84 lakh crore, according to the report.
Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
