Bharti Airtel Reports 55% Drop in Q3 Net Profit Despite Revenue Growth

Bharti Airtel, India's second-largest telecommunications provider, announced its third-quarter financial results for the current financial year on February 5, 2026. The company reported a notable decrease in net profit, which fell to ₹6,630 crore, a 55% decline from ₹14,781 crore during the same quarter last year. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, profit dipped by 2.4% from ₹6,792 crore.

The company's revenue from operations showed positive momentum, climbing by 20% to ₹53,982 crore compared to ₹45,129 crore in the previous year. This growth was primarily attributed to an increase in smartphone data users and a push towards premium services.

Operating profit, also known as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), reached ₹31,144 crore. The EBITDA margin was reported at 57.7%, signalling robust operational health. Bharti Airtel stated that its operational performance benefitted from a focus on premium service offerings and swift execution.

During the quarter, the number of smartphone data customers increased by 20.8 million year-on-year and rose by 5.2 million compared to the previous quarter, constituting approximately 79% of the company's total mobile customer base. In addition, Airtel added about 620,000 postpaid customers during this period.

The average revenue per user (ARPU), a critical profitability indicator for telecom companies, improved to ₹259 per user per month, up from ₹245 in the same quarter last year. The company reported a significant increase in mobile data consumption, which surged by 29.2% year-on-year to reach 29.8 GB per customer monthly.

Notably, Bharti Airtel forged a strategic partnership with Google during this quarter, aiming to establish India's first Artificial Intelligence hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. This initiative is expected to bolster the adoption of AI technologies across the country.

Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman of Bharti Airtel, commented on the quarter's performance, stating, "Q3’26 marked another strong quarter, with consolidated revenue of ₹53,982 crore, a growth of 3.5% sequentially, underpinning our strategy of a diversified and resilient portfolio."

While Airtel witnessed growth, the drop in net profit can be attributed to exceptional gains from the previous year’s results, which included a ₹7,546 crore boost from the reclassification of Indus Towers from an associate company to a subsidiary. Also, the recent implementation of a new labour code contributed to provisioning costs of ₹257 crore.

Bharti Airtel's shares experienced a decline, finishing 1.66% lower at ₹1,992 ahead of the earnings announcement.

In terms of market competition, Airtel's ARPU gap with its rival, Reliance Jio, has widened. Jio's ARPU stood at ₹213.70 at the end of December, while Vodafone Idea reported an ARPU of ₹172 per month. The company's proactive strategy in attracting premium users has significantly enhanced its profitability.

For the broadband segment, Airtel's homes business, which includes fibre-to-the-home services, demonstrated commendable growth, generating over ₹2,000 crore in revenue, up 32.6% year-on-year. The company reported record customer additions in this segment, with 1.2 million new customers.

As the telecommunications industry braces for potential tariff hikes, investors and analysts are closely monitoring Airtel’s future strategies regarding ARPU growth and the impact of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues, with discussions anticipated in the upcoming earnings call.