Airtel Q1 profit jumps 35 per cent on India and Africa growth

MUMBAI: The signal bars are up and so are Airtel’s earnings. India’s second-largest telecom operator dialled into the new financial year with a strong performance, riding robust growth across its India mobile business, Airtel Africa and home broadband services to deliver double-digit gains in revenue and profit.

Bharti Airtel reported consolidated revenue from operations of Rs 58,539 crore for the quarter ended 30 June 2026, an 18.4 per cent increase from Rs 49,463 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Total income rose to Rs 59,446 crore, up from Rs 49,971 crore a year ago.

Profit after tax climbed 34.9 per cent year-on-year to Rs 10,012 crore, compared with Rs 7,422 crore in the year-ago quarter, even after absorbing an exceptional charge of Rs 353 crore linked to the proposed settlement of a commercial dispute at one of its African subsidiaries. Profit before tax stood at Rs 13,773 crore, up 31.1 per cent from Rs 10,504 crore last year.

The company generated EBITDA of Rs 34,289 crore, up from Rs 28,348 crore a year earlier, reflecting continued operating leverage despite higher network, employee and spectrum-related costs. Total expenses rose to Rs 25,236 crore, compared with Rs 21,624 crore in the corresponding quarter.

India’s mobile services business remained Airtel’s biggest engine, contributing Rs 29,929 crore in revenue during the quarter, up from Rs 27,397 crore a year earlier. The Africa business continued to gather pace, with revenue surging to Rs 17,566 crore from Rs 12,083 crore, underlining the region’s growing importance to the group’s earnings profile. Airtel Business added Rs 5,665 crore, while Home Services contributed Rs 2,288 crore. Passive infrastructure arm Indus Towers generated Rs 8,525 crore, while Digital TV revenue remained broadly steady at Rs 773 crore.

Segment profitability also improved across key businesses. India mobile services posted segment earnings of Rs 9,956 crore, while Airtel Africa delivered Rs 5,970 crore. Airtel Business contributed Rs 1,840 crore, and Indus Towers added Rs 2,728 crore, although the Digital TV business continued to remain in the red.

During the quarter, Airtel also completed a significant equity transaction that increased its effective holding in Airtel Africa from 62.62 per cent to 78.93 per cent through a preferential share issue worth Rs 28,222 crore to Indian Continental Investment Limited. The company subsequently increased its effective stake further to 79.11 per cent following Airtel Africa’s ongoing USD 110 million share buyback programme.

On the balance sheet front, total assets expanded to Rs 5,71,545 crore from Rs 5,15,037 crore a year earlier, while total liabilities stood at Rs 3,70,898 crore. Earnings per share improved to Rs 13.38, up from Rs 10.26 in the corresponding quarter last year.

With both its domestic telecom operations and African business firing in tandem, Airtel has entered FY27 with strong momentum, reinforcing its strategy of balancing subscriber growth, premiumisation and international expansion.