Bharti Airtel reported revenues up 9.2 percent year-on-year to INR 202.6 billion for its fiscal first quarter to June. Revenues were up 11.6 percent in its home market India to INR 141.2 billion, helped by mobile price increases and growth in mobile data and TV services. At its South Asia and Africa operations, growth slowed to 4.6 percent to INR 63.2 billion, hurt by termination rate cuts in several countries in Africa despite strong growth in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
The operator's EBITDA rose 19.3 percent to INR 65.5 billion, and the margin improved to 32.3 percent from 29.6 a year earlier. Net profit dropped to INR 6.9 billion from INR 7.6 billion due to forex and derivatives losses.
Operating cash flow doubled year-on-year to INR 42.5 billion, as capex fell by 32 percent to INR 22.95 billion. Net debt dropped by USD 908 million in the quarter to USD 9.78 billion at end-June after the investment by the Qatar Foundation. That's equal to 2.21 times EBITDA, versus 2.50 three months earlier.
Airtel finished the quarter with 274.92 million customers, up by 1.4 percent from March and 5.4 percent more than a year earlier. In India it grew 1.4 percent to 190.95 million mobile customers, and ARPU improved 4 percent from Q1 and 8 percent from a year earlier to INR 200. The growth in ARPU was driven by price increases, higher voice usage and more customers using data services. Airtel reported 6.8 million 3G customers at the end of the period, and data traffic was up 14 percent from the previous quarter and 117 percent year-on-year. In the TV market it gained 352,000 new customers in the quarter for a total 8.45 million at end-June.
In Africa, the company had 64.203 million customers at the end of the quarter, up by 485,000 sequentially and 15 percent more year-on-year. Revenue growth was zero, as ARPU sunk to USD 5.5 from 6.5 a year earlier on termination rate cuts. Voice and data traffic were still increasing as prices fall, with data now accounting for 5.4 percent of revenue and 24.2 percent of the customer base. The 3G network grew by 525 sites in the quarter to 6,201.
In South Asia, Airtel added 119,000 customers for a total 8.025 million at end-June. ARPU improved 6 percent sequentially and 14 percent year-on-year to USD 2.9. Almost 28 percent of the customer base used data services, and data traffic was up 55 percent from a year earlier. Voice traffic improved to an average 439 minutes per customer.
