Singtel arm to sell 0.8% stake in Bharti Airtel via Rs 10,300-crore block deal

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd's (Singtel) subsidiary, Pastel Ltd, is set to offload about 0.8 per cent stake in Bharti Airtel Ltd through a block deal valued at Rs 10,300 crore. The floor price for the transaction has been fixed at Rs 2,030 per share, reflecting a 3.08 per cent discount to Airtel's Thursday closing price of Rs 2,094.60 on BSE.

According to deal details, Pastel will sell around 5.1 crore shares of the telecom major, with JPMorgan acting as the broker for the block deal. The move comes as part of Singtel's ongoing capital management strategy aimed at optimising its portfolio and enhancing shareholder returns.

Earlier in May 2025, Singtel sold a 1.2 per cent direct stake in Airtel for S$2 billion (around $1.5 billion) through a private placement to international and Indian institutional investors, including existing Airtel shareholders.

Airtel, meanwhile, continues to report strong financial performance. The company's consolidated net profit for the July–September quarter (Q2 FY26) surged 89.02 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 6,791.7 crore, compared to Rs 3,593.2 crore in the same quarter last year. Consolidated revenue rose 25.7 per cent YoY to Rs 52,145 crore.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 35.9 per cent YoY to Rs 29,919 crore, with margins improving to 57.4 per cent. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) climbed 51.6 per cent YoY to Rs 16,669 crore, reflecting a margin of 32 per cent. The company's capital expenditure (capex) during the quarter stood at Rs 11,362 crore.

Airtel's total customer base reached about 62.4 crore across 15 countries. Its average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to Rs 256 from Rs 233 in Q2 FY25, while mobile data consumption rose 26.6 per cent YoY, with average monthly usage per customer increasing to 28.3 GB.