Q4 Results: Bharti Airtel Shines in Africa But What About India?

• Bharti Airtel 4th quarter numbers came out this week, along with a Rs 4 dividend per share

• The company registered growth in sales and profit on a quarterly and annual comparison

• Expert's responses to the results have been largely positive

Indian telecom giant Bharti Airtel declared its results for January-March 2023 period earlier this week. Its revenue and profits have seen an increase in quarterly and year-on-year comparisons. They will be handing out a dividend of Rs 4 per share for this quarter to their shareholders.

Here is a detailed look at Bharti Airtel’s Q4 - 2022-23 performance.

Also Read: Reliance Q4 results: Must read report for investors and industry insiders

Bharti Airtel 4th Quarter FY23 Results

• Airtel’s revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 36,009 crore, against an analyst estimate of Rs Rs 36,744 crore. This is a yearly growth of 14.3%. The revenue in the previous quarter was Rs 20,912 crores.

• Net profit was recorded to be Rs 4,226 crore (PAT Rs 3,006 crore), against an estimate of Rs 2,881 crore. This is a 61.68% increase in profit from the previous quarter and a 13.8% growth from the previous year.

• The revenue from Indian operations was Rs 19,549 crore, which is an increase of 11.5% over the previous year. The company’s African business saw a growth of 20%, with recorded revenue of Rs 11,031 crore for the quarter.

• The operating margins saw an improvement over the same quarter of the previous year. Operating margins for this quarter stood at 52.2%, compared to 50.8% in Q4, FY22.

• Airtel Africa’s customer base increased by 9% during the quarter. However, its domestic customer growth was a muted 2.9%.

• The average revenue per user (ARPU) is an important metric in telecom. Airtel’s ARPU has stagnated at Rs 193 in the last two quarters. However, it is an improvement over the previous year’s ARPU of Rs 178. At $3.1 Airtel’s Africa ARPU increased 8.9% over the year.

• The company’s customer base grew by 5.8% in the last year to exceed 51,000 crores.

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Bharti Airtel's Q4 results: Market Response

Airtel’s share has increased marginally from Rs 785 on 16 May to Rs 800 on 18 May 2023. 

Leading brokerage firm Jefferies has given the share a buy rating with a target price of Rs 900, pointing out good customer additions and cash flow numbers. 

Morgan Stanley, too, pointed out customer addition as one of the reasons for its buy rating for the stock. It expects Airtel to touch Rs 860. 

Credit Suisse has given a more optimistic target price of Rs 950, and domestic broker Prabhudaas Liladhar has set it at Rs 1,008. 

ICICI Direct has a buy rating on the share with a target price of Rs 960, which is similar to Motilal Oswal’s target price of Rs 950.

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The outlook seems positive for Airtel, but investors may note that it still has some distance to go to touch its 52-week high of Rs 860. Apart from strong operational performance and an increase in the customer base, aggressive customer-focused offerings are expected to trigger a healthy growth cycle for the company. 

Disclaimer: This article is intended for general information purposes only and should not be construed as investment or legal advice. You should separately obtain independent advice when making decisions in these areas

Source: 

• https://www.5paisa.com
• https://www.indmoney.com
• https://www.bqprime.com
• https://www.businesstoday.in
• https://www.livemint.coml