Bharti Airtel Q2 net profit rises 31% to Rs 8,888 crore; ARPU climbs to Rs 271

Bharti Airtel Ltd on Thursday reported a 30.86 per cent year-on-year (YoY) increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 8,887.5 crore for the second quarter of FY27, compared with Rs 6,791.7 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The telecom major's revenue from operations rose 16.7 per cent YoY to Rs 60,878 crore, driven by growth in the company's India and Africa businesses.

Airtel's India business revenue increased 9.4 per cent YoY to Rs 42,308 crore. The company attributed the growth to its mobile portfolio premiumisation strategy, along with momentum in its Homes and Airtel Business segments.

In the mobile segment, the company added 18.8 million smartphone data customers year-on-year and 2.9 million sequentially during the quarter. Smartphone data users accounted for 81 per cent of its total mobile customer base.

The company also reported postpaid net additions of 1.2 million during Q2 FY27, which it described as its strongest performance in a single quarter.

Airtel's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric for telecom operators, increased to Rs 271 from Rs 256 in the year-ago quarter.

Mobile data usage rose 36.5 per cent YoY, with consumption reaching 36.5 GB per customer per month.

The Homes business added 3.4 million net customers YoY, sustaining its growth trajectory.

Commenting on the company's expansion plan, Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman at Airtel, said, "Our investment in a strategic land parcel during the quarter marks another important step towards realising our ambition of building 1 GW of data centre capacity. In Financial Services, early traction following the commercial launch has been very encouraging, with our digital platforms, advanced data analytics and disciplined operating model providing a strong foundation to scale the business. We continue to maintain a strong and resilient balance sheet, anchored by robust cash generation and disciplined capital allocation."

The quarterly earnings were announced after market hours on Thursday. Earlier in the day, Airtel shares shed 0.19 per cent to close at Rs 2,062.05 on BSE.