Airtel Q4 profit up 30% at Rs 1,255 crore

NEW DELHI: Propelled by higher data usage and robust customer growth, India's top telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has recorded a 30 percent rise in its net profit to Rs 1,255 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2015.

The consolidated revenues stood at Rs 23,016 crore, up by 3.6% and mobile data revenues stood at Rs 3,085 crore, up by 59.1% Y-o-Y.

"The cumulative investment of Rs 68,000 crores in spectrum is a reflection of our commitment to the cause of a Digital India, and our belief in the potential of the exciting opportunity," said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia.

“The company's India revenues registered a growth of 11.8% Y-o-Y across segments, led by 11.0% in Mobile, 10.2% in Telemedia and 17.2% in Digital TV,” a statement said.

“The mobile data revenue at Rs 2,324 crore registered a growth of 70.4% Y-o-Y in India, uplifted by increase in usage per customer by 41.2% and data customer base by 30.3%,” it added.

The data ARPU has moved up by Rs 43 to Rs 176 in Q4’15. Mobile Data revenues contributed to 17.6% of Mobile India revenues vis-à-vis 11.5% in the corresponding quarter last year.

Airtel Africa revenues grew by 3.4% Y-o-Y in constant currency terms, but the reported revenues were down by 12.6% due to significant currency movements in last 12 months.

“Airtel Africa grew net revenues by 7.5% in constant currency terms during FY 2014-15 amidst rather tough economic conditions - results of the commitment demonstrated by the 5,000 - strong Airtel family in Africa. This was also a year when we re-aligned our organisation to bring sharper market and customer focus,” said Christian de Faria, MD and CEO, Africa.

“Overall customer base grew by 6.8 million during the year and Airtel Money customer base by 2.7 million. With 3G operations now in all 17 countries and with 3,088 new 3G sites, data revenues have increased by 61.3% in constant currency terms. We are pleased to see all round performance in Nigeria, our largest market in Africa,” said Faria.

The company's consolidated EBITDA at Rs 8,051 crore grew by 10.0% Y-o-Y with EBITDA margin expanding by 2.0% to 35.0%, driven by India’s margin expansion by 3.8% Y-o-Y.

“The resultant consolidated EBIT of Rs 4,272 crore represents a Y-o-Y growth of 26.6%, with EBIT margin improving by 3.4%. The improved operational efficiency has resulted in the Consolidated Net Income growing by 30.5% Y-o-Y to Rs 1,255 crore,” it said.

However, the company's annual consolidated revenues at Rs 92,039 crore grew by 7.3% over the previous year, led by robust op line growth in India.

Airtel Africa net revenues grew at 7.5% Y-o-Y in constant currency terms.

The company’s consolidated net debt as on March 31, 2015 was $ 10,679 million.