Indian telecoms group Bharti Airtel has reported total revenue of INR315.0 billion (USD4.06 billion) for the three months to end-March 2022 and INR1.17 trillion for the full year to that date, representing year-on-year increases of 22.3% and 15.8% respectively. EBITDA totalled INR160.0 billion for the quarter compared to INR125.8 billion in the same period of 2021 and INR581.1 billion for the year (INR461.39 billion in year to end-March 2021). Quarterly net income, meanwhile, more than doubled year-on-year to INR20.1 billion from INR7.6 billion a year earlier, whilst annual net income reversed from a net loss of INR150.8 billion to a profit of INR42.5 billion.
Airtel notes that the growth was driven by an uptick in ARPU – the result of a tariff revision in the previous quarter – and strong 4G subscription net additions. ARPU improved to INR178 from INR163 in the preceding quarter and INR145 in the year-ago period, whilst 4G subscriptions grew 200.786 million from 179.293 million in March 2021. In addition, the company recorded ‘strong momentum’ in its Home division, with subscriptions increasing to 4.483 million by 31 March 2022, from 3.067 million a year earlier.