BENGALURU (Reuters) -Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s No. 2 telecom carrier by subscribers, on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations, as 4G user growth and per-user revenue stagnated.
The company’s consolidated revenue from operations rose to 360.09 billion rupees ($4.40 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, from 315 billion rupees a year ago, it said in an exchange filing.
Analysts, on an average, had expected a revenue of 365.52 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
Analysts have flagged concerns of slowing revenue growth due to the absence of tariff hikes in recent years to cushion the load of telecom firms spending billions of dollars on buying 5G spectrum at an auction last August.
Airtel’s net profit rose nearly 50% to 30.06 billion rupees, beating analysts’ estimate of 25.24 billion rupees despite a rise in costs. Its total expenses rose nearly 12%, led by higher marketing and network operating expenses.
The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU), a key performance indicator for telecom firms, was at 193 rupees, flat from the previous quarter, but up 8.4% year-on-year.
Last month, market leader Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd , said its fourth-quarter ARPU stood at 178.8 rupees, an increase of only 0.3% from a quarter ago and a 6.7% climb from a year ago.
Airtel said it added 7.4 million 4G data customers in the March quarter, with total 4G subscribers now at 224.12 million, an increase of 3.4% from a quarter ago. It had posted a 3.1% increase in 4G users in the December quarter.
The company declared a final dividend of 4 rupees per share for the 2023 financial year.
Shares of the company closed 1.2% lower at 787.35 rupees ahead of the results. They declined 7% in the March quarter.
($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
