Bharti Airtel reported revenues for the three months to March up 9.2 percent from a year earlier to INR 204.5 billion, and EBITDA improved 4.1 percent to INR 64.9 billion. The Indian operator's net profit for the fiscal fourth quarter was still down 49.4 percent to INR 5.1 billion, hurt by higher depreciation and amortisation, taxes and interest. Operating cash flow fell 23.1 percent to INR 29.6 billion, after capex increased to INR 35.2 billion from INR 23.8 billion a year ago.
Airtel said it returned to positive customer growth in India, after two quarters of declines, with churn dropping to 3.2 percent and ARPU up by INR 8 on a sequential basis to INR 193, helped by expanding mobile internet use and higher voice traffic. The company finished March with 196.13 million mobile customers in India and south Asia, up by 3.5 percent from December and 4.3 percent more than a year earlier. Mobile revenues rose 7 percent to INR 112.6 billion, while EBITDA fell 1 percent to INR 35.3 billion.
In Africa, the customer base grew by over 2 million in the three months to 63.72 million. Revenues were up 5 percent from a year earlier to USD 1.12 billion, while EBITDA fell 4 percent to USD 285 million. Capex on the continent was down 8 percent from a year earlier to USD 235 million. ARPU of USD 5.9 fell 5 percent sequentially and 13 percent year-on-year.
