Bharti Airtel Q3 results: Profit down 55% YoY to Rs 6,630 crore; ARPU at Rs 259

Telecom giant Bharati Airtel on Thursday reported a 55% year-on-year decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 6,630 crore for the quarter ended December 2025. Consolidated revenues for the third quarter stood at Rs 53,982 crore, up 20% year-on-year.The decline in operating income was primarily due to last year’s higher base, which was the result of an exceptional profit.

Consolidated EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 31,144 crore with an EBITDA margin of 57.7% India revenues in the third quarter rose 13% year-on-year to Rs 39,226 crore and 1.4% quarter-on-quarter. Mobile revenue in India registered a year-on-year increase of 9.1%, led by improved realizations and a growing customer base.

The company maintained robust ARPU growth and reported average revenue per user of Rs 259 for the quarter, compared to Rs 245 in Q3 FY25

The company said it continues to strengthen its leadership in the postpaid segment with net additions of 0.62 million customers to reach a total customer base of 28.1 million. Smartphone data customers saw an increase of 20.8 million last year, an increase of 7.7% year over year.

In the current quarter, 1,147 towers and 16,338 mobile broadband base stations have been deployed. Over the past nine months, the company has added 5,457 towers and deployed 30,000 kilometers of fiber to strengthen its digital infrastructure. The Homes segment delivered solid revenue growth of 33% year-on-year, supported by continued improvement in customer acquisition. During the quarter, Airtel added 1.2 million customers, taking its total customer base to 13.1 million.

For Airtel Africa’s operations, the customer base stood at 179 million, while sales in constant currency increased by almost 25% year-on-year. The company’s EBITDA margin (in constant currency) was 49.3%, up 234 basis points year-on-year.

Digital TV achieved a turnover of Rs 755 crore. The total customer base is 15.4 million. The company said its IPTV service is experiencing rapid adoption, led by a differentiated offering and a convergence agenda.

During the quarter, Bharti Airtel entered into a strategic partnership with Google to set up India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) hub in Visakhapatnam.

The consolidated net debt to EBITDA ratio (annualized) was 1.47 times, compared to 1.98 times in December 2024. The consolidated net debt (excluding lease obligations) to EBITDAaL ratio (annualized) was 1.02 times.