Bharti Airtel Q3 preview, jump in consolidated PAT and higher ARPU expected

Telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd. will post its Q3 earnings on Feb 8 and market analysts express mixed views over its consolidated net profit for the December-ending quarter.

Market experts have projected consolidated revenues to rise by almost 4% to over 5% on a sequential basis, up to Rs 29,801.1 crore in Q3 FY22, led by up to 25% tariff hike undertaken by the telco in the quarter.

he company’s revenues are expected to rise despite brokerages suggesting a loss of net subscribers on a quarter-on-quarter basis. Kotak Institutional Equities sees a loss of 1.5 million subscribers during the quarter.

The operating performance, however, is expected to be strong. Analysts expect consolidated operating profit of the company to grow 6.6 percent on-quarter to Rs 14,721 crore.

The consolidated operating margin of the company is likely to expand to 49.1-50 percent from 48.8 percent in the previous quarter, reflecting the benefits from the tariff hike.

Analysts expect a strong operating performance from Airtel, with EBITDA estimated to rise to 5.5% QoQ to Rs 14,570 crore and the EBITDA margin expected to expand up to 50% in the quarter under focus, compared to 48.8% in the September quarter.

The country’s second-largest telco’s average revenue per user or ARPU is expected to rise in the range of Rs 162-168/user, thereby advancing up to 9.8% in the Dec quarter, on a QoQ basis.

While analysts at various brokerages predict a 39% sequential rise to Rs 1,581.3 crore in Bharti Airtel’s consolidated net profit in Q3, on a QoQ basis, a poll of analysts suggests the profit to decline 53.5% QoQ to Rs 928 crore in the quarter.

The fall is expected based on the numbers witnessed in Q2 FY22, due to proceedings of sale of spectrum assets to Reliance Jio. Moreover, the poll expects the mobile business revenue to rise 5.5% to Rs 16,016 crore.

CT Bureau