Airtel Might Post Profit In October-December Quarter: Report

Airtel is likely to post a profit in the October-December quarter unless any unplanned situation arrives, as per a new report. Besides, Reliance Jio is expected to receive gains in revenues due to new 4G additions during the same period.

Similarly, analysts at Asix Capital believe that Airtel might post Rs. 81.3 crore profit due to average revenue per user (ARPU) growth, which is likely to increase the overall revenues by six percent in the December period. "We expect Airtel to report decent ARPU growth in the third quarter with many more 2G users likely to go 4G, in turn, boosting data consumption, a scenario further helped by the revival in smartphone sales growth post the pandemic-induced disruptions," Nitin Soni, senior director at global rating firm, at Fitch said.

However, the firm believes that India's third-largest telecom operator Vi (Vodafone-Idea) is likely to lose customers and might report a loss in revenues and Ebitda or operating income in the same period. The report said that Vi is not making additional investment in the network, that's why it cannot compete with both Reliance Jio and Airtel in 4G.

These firms believe that Airtel and Jio will add 11 million and 6.1 million customers quarter-on-quarter respectively. In addition, Vi (Vodafone-Idea) lost seven million customers in the same period. Furthermore, analysts estimate that Airtel and Reliance Jio reports two percent sequential growth in ARPU, whereas Vi posted 0.4 percent growth.

"Vi needs to urgently invest and spruce up its 4G operations, failing which, the quality of its 4G network will suffer and trigger further customer losses in the coming quarters," Soni added. Notably, Vi is planning to raise Rs. 25,000 crores to pay its dues and to invest in the infrastructure so that it can stop losing customers in the coming quarters.