Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel has reported consolidated revenue of INR232.17 billion (USD3.8 billion) for the three months ended 31 December 2014, an increase of 5.8% from INR219.39 billion in the year-ago period. Revenue from the firm’s home market accounted for INR162.56 billion of the total (up 12.6% year-on-year), while turnover from its African units declined by 5.6% to INR68.28 billion due to appreciation of the US dollar; in local currency terms Africa revenue rose 3.9% year-on-year. EBITDA for the group totalled INR77.86 billion in the quarter ended 31 December 2014, an increase of 9.6% for the year-ago period, while net income jumped from INR6.102 billion to INR14.365 billion over the same timeframe, thanks to improved operational efficiency.
Bharti Airtel’s overall subscriber base totalled 312.904 million across 20 countries in Asia and Africa at the end of 2014, up 8.9% from 287.409 million twelve months earlier. The company’s Indian mobile division accounted for 217.215 million customers (up 9.4% year-on-year), including 16.940 million 3G users, while African wireless subscribers grew 9.2% over the twelve-month period to 74.599 million.