Bharti Airtel's Q4 Profit Surges Five-Fold to Rs 11,022 Crore Driven by Tariff Hikes

Bharti Airtel reported a significant increase in its consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 11,022 crore for the March 2025 quarter. This rise is attributed to the impact of tariff hikes and a one-time tax benefit. The previous year's net profit for the same period was Rs 2,071.6 crore. The company gained from favourable tax orders, resulting in a one-time tax benefit of approximately Rs 5,913 crore.

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The telecom giant's revenue from operations saw a 27% increase, reaching Rs 47,876.2 crore in the March 2025 quarter compared to Rs 37,599.1 crore in the same quarter of the previous year. Bharti Airtel's standalone revenue in India rose by 15% year-on-year to Rs 36,735 crore from Rs 31,851.5 crore. This growth was primarily driven by the tariff hike announced in July of the previous year.

Revenue and Subscriber Growth

For the fourth quarter of FY25, India revenues surged by 28.8% year-on-year to Rs 36,735 crore. Mobile revenues increased by 20.6% year-on-year due to tariff adjustments and a focus on attracting premium customers. The average revenue per user (ARPU), an important metric for telecom businesses, rose by about 17% to Rs 245 during this period from Rs 209 a year earlier.

Despite having two fewer days in the quarter, India's mobile business grew by 1.3% sequentially, driven by premiumisation efforts. Bharti Airtel added 6.6 million smartphone users and maintained an industry-leading ARPU of Rs 245, according to Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel's vice-chairman and MD.

Network Expansion and Investments

Airtel's subscriber base in India expanded to 42.4 crore during the March 2025 quarter, with a total customer base of around 59 crore across 15 countries. The number of smartphone data customers increased by 2.4 crore year-on-year, making up 77% of the total mobile customer base. Average mobile data consumption on Airtel's network grew by 21.2%, reaching 25.1 GB per month.

For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, Bharti Airtel reported a four-fold rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 33,556 crore from Rs 7,467 crore in FY24. Annual revenue from operations increased by 15.33%, reaching Rs 1,72,985.2 crore compared to Rs 1,49,982.4 crore in FY24.

Financial Performance and Investments

The company's net debt rose to Rs 2.03 lakh crore at the end of the reported quarter from Rs 1.94 lakh crore a year earlier. Consolidated capital expenditure during the quarter was Rs 14,401 crore, with Rs 12,553 crore allocated to its Indian operations.

"During the quarter, we installed approximately 3,300 additional towers and 13,600 mobile broadband stations to expand our network footprint and enhance customer experience nationwide," stated Bharti Airtel's report. Over the past year, they have added about 19,900 towers and deployed around 44,400 kilometres of fibre.

For the full fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, Bharti Airtel's capital expenditure for India amounted to Rs 33,242 crore.

With inputs from PTI