Bharti Enterprises: Ringing In Profits with a Massive 224% Jump in PAT

From its modest beginnings in Ludhiana as a bicycle parts maker to commanding revenues of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore, Bharti Enterprises has redefined scale and ambition among Indian businesses.

Bharti Airtel, its crown jewel, today ranks among the world’s top telecom operators with more than 500 million subscribers across 17 countries. Aided by Airtel, in FY25, the group saw a 223% year-on-year (YoY) surge in profit after tax (PAT) to Rs 48,907 crore, as per data from ACE Equity. This has catapulted the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led enterprise to second rank among groups with the fastest growth in PAT in the BT500 list.

The firm’s revenue market share touched a record high of nearly 40% in FY25, surging by 1.78 percentage points YoY. The winning formula was an improved portfolio mix, continued premiumisation and tariff repair across mobile plans.

“Our clear and simple strategy of portfolio premiumisation and razor-sharp execution is driving strong performance across our businesses,” Gopal Vittal, Managing Director of Bharti Airtel, said in an analyst call after accouncing results for the first quarter of FY26.

Bharti Group has three major businesses—Bharti Airtel, Indus Towers and Bharti Hexacom. While Bharti Airtel’s PAT surged 338% YoY to Rs 37,481 crore, Bharti Hexacom and Indus Towers witnessed 196.1% and 64.5% YoY increase in PAT, respectively.

Ravi Singh, Senior Vice President of Retail Research at Religare Broking, attributes this to significant subscriber growth, higher ARPU (average revenue per user), and rollout of 5G services. “The group also benefited from operational efficiencies, cost optimisation, and a shift towards high-margin services. The profit surge was underpinned by strong momentum in both India and Africa operations, supported by higher-paying smartphone subscriber additions, increased data usage, and tariff hikes in the previous year,” says Singh.

Singh says on the non-telecom front, Bharti Enterprises’ diversification into real estate, renewable energy, and strategic investments also contributed to the earnings growth. “Strategic debt reduction and prudent capital allocation strengthened the group’s financial position,” says Singh.

5G, Premiumisation and Africa

The momentum continued into Q1FY26, with Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net profit jumping 43% YoY to Rs 5,948 crore. Revenue from operations grew 28% to Rs 49,463 crore.

The mobile segment was the mainstay, adding 1.2 million customers, including 3.9 million smartphone users. The postpaid segment reported a net addition of 0.7 million, which accounted for 57% of all additions. ARPU ticked up to Rs 250, the first for an Indian telecom player. The 5G push stayed on track, with 152 million users on the network. “We continue to believe that 5G handset adoption at the bottom end of the market will accelerate with more affordable options…5G sites already cater to 36% of the total network traffic, enabling some traffic offload from the existing 4G sites as well,” said Vittal.

In the broadband segment, Airtel clocked its highest-ever quarterly net additions at 939,000, with fixed wireless access gaining traction through 540,000 new users.

In entertainment, the story was mixed. Airtel lost around 200,000 direct-to-home customers but more than made up for it with fast-rising Internet Protocol Television adoption.

The enterprise arm held its ground, delivering revenues of Rs 5,060 crore. Stripping out the discontinued low-margin business, the segment grew 2% sequentially. “The outlook continues to be strong, with a strong visibility on funnel and the order book,” said Vittal.

Meanwhile, Airtel Payments Bank crossed 98 million monthly transacting users in June and a revenue run-rate of Rs 3,100 crore, up 27% YoY. Deposits climbed 29% to Rs 3,750 crore, signaling growing trust in Airtel’s fintech ecosystem.

The group’s business in Africa fuelled the strength, clocking constant currency revenue growth of 6.7% and maintaining enviable profitability with EBITDAaL (earnings before taxes, depreciation, amortisation and lease expenses) margins just shy of 37%. At present, Africa accounts for 24% of revenues, India mobile for 55%, India non-mobile for 13%, and Indus for 8%.

G. Chokkalingam, Director of Equinomics Research, points to market saturation as well as management’s ability as key drivers behind Bharti Group’s growth.

“At one point, the industry had over 15 private players. Today, there are only three, plus BSNL. The ability of Bharti’s management to navigate consolidation, expand into 17 countries, and maintain healthy Ebitda margins of nearly 50%, even in Africa, has been equally critical,” he says.

Tech Focused

Looking ahead, the company is transforming into a tech-driven conglomerate with four clear focus areas: building a diverse and resilient portfolio, acquiring quality customers, expanding its B2B networks, and strengthening digital capabilities.

In broadband, Airtel is sharpening its push to deepen its network reach and accelerate the rollout of fiber home passes, or the total number of homes and premises that are located within a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network’s optical distribution network. “I want to get to a quarterly run rate of 2.5 million home passes, up from 1.6 million,” said Vittal.

The B2B business is also seeing aggressive investments as Airtel works to build what it calls a gold-standard, faultless and reliable fiber network. “Our infrastructure, comprising low-latency fibre, submarine cables, OPGW fiber, and advanced data centres, is the backbone of our superior service quality and assurance,” Vittal noted.

Beyond connectivity, Airtel is betting on cybersecurity, IoT, and Cloud, segments that are attracting new investments and already showing traction. The digital business overall is expanding rapidly, growing at 23%.

Artificial intelligence is going to be put at the heart of the group’s businesses. “For the last 18 months we have been running experiments on AI, and one of the things we have decided is to put it at the very heart of our businesses,” Vittal tells BT. Recently, Airtel partnered with Perplexity AI to offer a complimentary 12-month subscription of its professional version to its customers.

Challenges Ahead

Even as the group continues its aggressive focus towards becoming a technology focused conglomerate, the transformation will involve formidable challenges. Chokkalingam says the biggest would be either maintaining or regaining its market share.

Analysts at Mirae Asset Sharekhan point to distress in pressure on realisations owing to increasing competition. “Continued decline in data volume growth could affect revenue growth. Any slowdown in Africa operations could affect revenue growth,” says the research firm.

Religare’s Singh, however, says growth is expected from digital services, enterprise solutions, and continued expansion in rural and international markets.

@asthaoriel