Airtel Q1 Results: Profit Dips To Rs. 284 Crores; Here's Why

Earning of Airtel has declined in the Q1 of this financial year due to lockdown and the second wave of COVID-19. Airtel has posted a 62 percent decline to Rs. 284 crores from Rs. 759 crores in Q4 FY21.

In the Q1 of the last financial year, Airtel reported a loss of Rs. 15, 933 crores due to adjusted gross revenue debt. However, the company has managed to get revenue to Rs. 26,854 crore in Q1 from Rs. 25, 747 in Q4FY21.

COVID-19 Affect On Airtel Earnings

"India is now recovering from the devastating second wave of Covid-19...Our consolidated revenues at Rs. 26,854 crores grew by Rs. 1, 106 crores over the last quarter, representing sequential growth of 4.3 percent while EBITDA margins improved from 48.9 percent to 49.1 percent," Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said.

Vittal said that the revenue was hurt due to the lockdown, but still, we managed to add 5.1 million customers in Q1 as the enterprise business is doing well.

"Our Homes business grew by just about 13 percent over last year and added 285K customers in the quarter, the highest ever. We continue to invest in the best of emerging technologies, including networks and digital capabilities," Vittal further added.

ARPU Of Airtel In Q1 FY22

Meanwhile, Airtel announced that the average revenue per user has increased during the quarter to Rs. 146 from Rs. 145 in Q4 FY 21.

In addition, Airtel said that it has deployed extra spectrum in several circles so that it can improve network quality. For the unaware, the telecom operator deployed additional spectrum in four bands, such as 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 2300 bands.

It is worth mentioning that Airtel has to pay 10 percent of AGR debt by the March end, which is why it is trying its best to increase its ARPU and overall revenue.

The telecom operator is reducing benefits and removing prepaid plans so that customers can choose high-value packs, which automatically increase its revenue and ARPU. In addition, the telecom operator is all set to make changes in the prepaid plans and there are high chances that it might raise tariffs further in the next months.