Backed by sharp growth in mobile data business and rise in call charges, country's largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel on Tuesday reported a jump of 89.1 per cent in its consolidated net profits for the fourth quarter. As per the Q4 results, Airtel's data business sky rocketed by 93.4 per cent which improved the overall quarterly results.
Company's net profit for January - March quarter stood at Rs962 crore as against Rs509 crore in the same quarter last fiscal. On the revenue front, Airtel's quarterly revenue surged by 13.5 per cent to Rs22,219 crore as compared to Rs19,582 crore during Q4 last fiscal. After declining profits for 15 straight quarters, Airtel returned to growth in the third quarter led by rise in mobile data revenue and better realisation from voice services.
On yearly basis, Airtel's net profit rose by 21.8 per cent to Rs2,773 crore by the end of March 2014 against Rs2,276 crore last year. Total revenue for the FY14 also rose by 11.5 per cent to Rs85,746 crore against Rs76,904 crore in FY13.
Segment wise, biggest rise was seen in the mobile data segment which almost doubled during the quarter. As per the statement issued by the company, "Consolidated mobile data revenues at Rs 1,900 crore grew by 93.4 per cent year-on-year, accounting for more than one-third of the growth."
Data contributed 11.1 per cent to the revenue from mobile services in India, compared with 6.5 per cent last year. The company said it continues to accelerate mobile data growth in India with 58.1 million data customers as on March 31, 2014, representing a growth of 33.5 per cent as compared to 43.5 million users at the end of the same period last year.
Other segments including direct-to-home business surged by 27.5 per cent and Airtel business grew by 19.1 per cent. Company's South Asia operations also rose by 96.3 per cent as compared to last fiscal.
Commenting on the Q4 results, Gopal Vittal, Bharti Airtel's Managing Director and CEO (India and South Aisa) said, "The year has ended on a satisfying note, both in operational and financial terms. Network and spectrum investments, a refreshed IT strategy, innovative service platforms and an energised organisation will enable sustained growth in India and South Asia."
Mobile voice realisation in the country also improved to 37.07 paisa per minute, a rise of 2.08 paisa from the last fiscal. "Mobile data revenue at Rs 1,325 crore registered a growth of 89.2 per cent Y-o-Y while telemedia, DTH and Airtel Business registered double digit revenue growth," the statement further added.
On the customer base front, the statement added, "By the end of the quarter, 28.3 per cent of the total customer bases were active data users as compared to 23.1 per cent in the corresponding quarter last year." At the end of March 31, the company had 20.55 crore users in India with an overall average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs196. Data ARPU increased by 43.4 per cent to Rs 79 during the quarter, as compared to Rs 55 in the same quarter last fiscal. Voice ARPU also rose by 2 per cent to Rs 162 as against Rs 159 during the same quarter last year.
While most of the indicators showed significant improvement in the company's performance, concerns still remain about the high net debt on the telecom operator. As per the Q4 results, the net debt at the end of March 31, 2014 stood at Rs60,541.6 crore. It rose from Rs58,356.7 crore by the end of March 2014. On quarterly basis also, Airtel's net debt on the end of December 2013 stood at Rs57,643 crore. Airtel also reported a capex of Rs10,584.3 crore for FY14 and Rs3,327.8 crore during the Q4 of the FY14.