Telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd on August 5 reported 43% jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 5,948 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, marking its fifth straight quarter of profit growth.

However, the firm missed profit estimates as the Moneycontrol poll of brokerages pegged the bottom line at Rs 8,169 crore. On a sequential basis, the net profit declined 46%.

Airtel’s revenue from operations rose 28% year-on-year to Rs 49,463 crore in the June quarter (Q1FY26), up from Rs 38,506 crore a year earlier. On the NSE, Airtel shares closed 0.8% higher at Rs 1,930 apiece ahead of the results.

The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) climbed to Rs 250 in Q1FY26 from Rs 211 in the year-ago quarter. Its total customer base grew 6.6% year-on-year to 436 million.

Consolidated EBITDA rose 41.2% to Rs 28,167 crore, with a consolidated EBITDA margin of 56.9% and India EBITDA margin of 59.5%. Consolidated EBIT also jumped 67% to Rs 15,621 crore. Net income before exceptional items stood at Rs 5,948 crore.

“We delivered another quarter of consistent growth, with consolidated revenues at Rs 49,463 crore, growing 3.3% sequentially. Our India revenue increased by 2.3%, while Africa delivered solid performance with 6.7% constant currency growth,” said Gopal Vittal, Vice-Chairman and MD, Bharti Airtel.

He added that the India mobile business grew 2.9% sequentially, led by portfolio premiumisation and the benefit of an extra day in the quarter. “Our balance sheet continues to demonstrate strength, supported by solid cash flow generation and disciplined capital allocation,” Vittal said.

Airtel’s smartphone data user base rose by 21.3 million year-on-year and 3.9 million sequentially, now accounting for 77% of the overall mobile customer base. The company added 0.7 million postpaid users during the quarter, taking the segment base to 26.6 million. Mobile data consumption rose 21.6% annually, with per-user monthly usage averaging 26.9 GB.

To bolster network performance, Airtel added ~1,800 new towers and ~7,500 mobile broadband sites during the quarter. On a year-on-year basis, it installed ~15,400 towers and laid 43,700 km of fiber.

Its Homes business maintained strong growth momentum, registering a 25.7% YoY increase in revenue. Airtel added a record 939,000 Wi-Fi customers during the quarter, taking the total home broadband user base to 11 million. The company also expanded its home-pass network by ~1.6 million fibre connections in the quarter.

“Our Homes business reported solid performance with lifetime-high quarterly net additions of 939K, resulting in sequential revenue growth of 7.6%. Our digital network across India and Africa now serves over 600 million customers,” Vittal noted.

On the enterprise front, Airtel Business revenue declined 7.7% YoY as the company shifted focus to high-quality revenue and exited low-margin contracts. However, the underlying momentum from core connectivity and digital services remained stable, the company said.

The Digital TV segment reported Rs 763 crore in revenue with a customer base of 15.7 million. Airtel’s new IPTV service, launched last quarter, continued to gain traction, adding 0.65 million users in the June quarter.