Bharti Airtel just shared its earnings for the March quarter, and the results were mixed but mostly positive. The company made more money from users and saw a big jump in mobile data usage. While profits fell compared to the previous quarter, Airtel still beat what most experts had predicted. Here’s a quick and simple look at what happened — and why it matters.
Airtel’s revenue rose to Rs. 47,876 crore, slightly up from Rs. 46,878 crore last quarter. This was better than what analysts expected. Operating earnings (EBITDA) were Rs. 27,404 crore, also ahead of forecasts, though lower than the Rs. 29,056 crore posted in the previous quarter. The EBITDA margin came in at 57.2%, down from 62%, but still a solid number.
The company’s net profit was Rs. 11,022 crore. That’s a 25% drop from the previous quarter’s Rs. 14,781 crore. Still, it was far higher than the Rs. 6,526 crore that many predicted. So even with a dip, Airtel’s overall performance looked strong on paper.
A big reason for this strong showing? More people are using more data — and paying more for it. Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU) rose to Rs. 245, up from Rs. 209 a year ago. That’s a 17% jump. At the same time, average data use per customer reached 25.1 GB per month, a rise of over 21% compared to last year.
Alongside the earnings, Airtel also announced a final dividend of Rs. 16 per share for the 2025 financial year. This move should please long-term investors looking for steady returns.
One small twist — just before the earnings were released, Airtel’s stock dropped 2.74% and closed at Rs. 1,820.95 on the BSE. But with the numbers now out, the market may respond differently in the days ahead.
