Telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Tuesday posted a 31 per cent drop in consolidated profit to ₹2,072 crore in the March quarter mainly due to the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira. The company had registered a profit of ₹3,005.6 crore in the year-ago period.

The consolidated revenue from operations increased 4.4 per cent to ₹37,599.1 crore during the quarter from ₹36,009 crore a year earlier.

“Consolidated performance was impacted primarily by the devaluation of the Nigerian Naira. We added 7.8 million smartphone customers and delivered an industry-leading ARPU of ₹209,” Bharti Airtel managing director Gopal Vittal said.

Airtel suffered a forex loss of ₹2,544.4 crore due to currency devaluation.

During the reported quarter, the company acquired a 97.12 per cent stake in Beetel Teletech for ₹658 crore.

For the year ended March 31, Airtel’s profit dropped 10.5 per cent to ₹7,467 crore.

The annual revenue from operations rose 7.7 per cent to ₹1,49,982.4 crore during the reported fiscal from ₹1,39,144.8 crore in 2022-23.

Bharti Airtel’s capital expenditure was ₹10,516 crore at the group level comprising ₹8,491 crore for India during the March 2024 quarter.

India revenue of Bharti Airtel increased 12.9 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis to ₹28,513 crore on account of improved realisation as well as strong 4G and 5G customer additions during the year.

The customer base in India grew 5 per cent to 35.22 crore from 34.55 crore on a year-on-year basis.

Bharti Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU) grew 8 per cent to ₹209 from ₹193 a year ago. Sequentially, the ARPU was higher than ₹208 in the December quarter.

Hexacom

Bharti Hexacom on Tuesday posted an over 10 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit for the March quarter to ₹223 crore on the back of strong customer additions and ARPU increase in mobile services.

Total revenue stood at ₹1,868 crore, up 7.8 per cent over the corresponding period a year earlier.

For the full year ended March 31, the net income (after exceptional items) came in at ₹504 crore, which was 8.2 per cent lower than the previous fiscal year. Mobile services revenues were up 6.8 per cent year-on-year.

The board of the company also declared a final dividend of ₹4 per fully paid-up equity share of face value of ₹5 each.

PTI