Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel reported a strong Q3 FY26 with consolidated revenue of approximately ₹54,000 crores, growing 3.5% sequentially. Consolidated EBITDAaL increased by 4.2% to over ₹27,700 crores, with the margin expanding by 30 basis points sequentially to 51.3%. India's revenue (excluding passive infra) grew 2.1% sequentially, contributing to an EBITDAaL of over ₹18,450 crores and a margin of 51.8%. Operating free cash flow (EBITDAaL minus capex) was robust at ₹15,900 crores consolidated and ₹11,350 crores for India.

The India mobile segment added 4.4 million revenue-earning customers and 5.2 million smartphone data consumers during the quarter, driving ARPU to ₹259. The company's 5G rollout progressed well, adding 11,000 sites and achieving 74% population coverage. Broadband saw sustained growth with 1.2 million net adds, bringing the total installed connected homes to 13 million. The Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) customer base now exceeds 3 million, supported by over 11,000 km of fiber rollout and 2 million fiber home passes.

Airtel Business revenues grew 1.5% sequentially to ₹5,350 crores, securing multiple deals in connectivity and adjacencies like Airtel Cloud, Cyber Security, and IoT. The digital portfolio demonstrated robust revenue growth of 39% year-over-year. Strategic investments continue in Cloud, Cyber Security, Financial Services, IoT, and CPaaS. Airtel Finance's loan disbursements crossed ₹500 crores monthly, and Payment Bank's annualized revenue run rate surpassed ₹3,250 crores, growing 16% YoY, with deposits of ₹4,300 crores, up 28% YoY.

The company's strategy is built on a diversified and resilient portfolio, winning quality customers, delivering brilliant customer experience, leveraging digital capabilities, and a 'war on waste'. ESG progress includes solarizing over 3,000 new sites (total 38,000) and the Satya Bharti schools reaching 36,000 students. AI is being embedded across operations for revenue growth, product differentiation, operational excellence, and enhanced customer experience, with examples like AI-powered Anti-Spam solution blocking 71 billion spam calls and dynamic power optimization for radio layers.

Consolidated capex for the quarter was ₹11,800 crores. Bharti Airtel's consolidated net debt to EBITDAaL improved to 1.02, with India's ratio at 1.38, reflecting prudent capital allocation and sustained operational excellence. Management indicated a commitment to stepping up investments in Data Centers, aiming for 1 gigawatt capacity and 25% market share in the next 3-4 years. The company also mentioned exploring opportunities with STT GDC following Singtel's stake acquisition.

The company's 5G expansion is progressing as planned, with 181 million 5G customers. While 5G pricing differentiation is being re-evaluated, the focus remains on overall pricing repair and differential data pricing to drive ARPU growth. Management confirmed that 5G capabilities, including network slicing for priority services, are ready for India and do not pose net neutrality concerns. Investments are also directed towards building further resiliency in the transport network and modernizing overall networks, with some pullback in 5G capex as device adoption grows.

Africa maintained its trajectory of solid performance with constant currency revenue growth of 5.8%. Management views Africa as a 'phenomenal investment' due to its undervalued assets, young population, low penetration, and favorable industry structure in most markets. The company will continue to look for opportunities to invest further in Africa, leveraging group-wide synergies like tech stack deployment to sharpen go-to-market capabilities and drive revenue growth.