BENGALURU: Indian telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited’s Digital TV Services segment (DTH segment) reported 21.9 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) increase in operating revenues for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (Q2-17, current quarter). Also, Operating Profit (Earnings Before interest and Tax – EBIT) of the DTH segment in the current quarter more than quadrupled (by 4.11 times) y-o-y.
Airtel DTH reported revenues of Rs 854.5 crore in Q2-17 and Rs 706.8 crore in Q2-16. EBIT for the corresponding periods was Rs 69.9 crore (8.2 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) and Rs 1.7 crore (2.4 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) respectively.
However, quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q) the segment reported 42.7 percent drop in EBIT for the current quarter as compared to Rs 121.9 crore (14.6 percent margin of the segment’s operating revenue) in the immediate trailing quarter. Revenue in Q2-17 was 2.1 percent higher q-o-q than Rs 836.9 crore in Q1-17.
Subscription numbers, ARPU
Airtel’s DTH segment added 18.29 lakh subscribers between Q2-16 and Q2-17, or a 17.3 percent y-o-y increase. The company says that this is the highest growth in percentage terms over seventeen quarters. It had 124.05 lakh subscribers as on 30 September 2016. Q-o-q, the segment witnessed a 2.1 percent growth (2.56 lakh adds) in subscribers from 121.49 lakh in Q1-17.
ARPU in Q2-17 increased to Rs 232 from Rs 224 in the corresponding year ago quarter, but declined marginally (by Re 1) from Rs 233 in the immediate trailing quarter.
Airtel numbers
Bharti Airtel Limited saw a 3.4 percent increase in operating revenue to Rs 24,651.5 crore in Q2-17 as compared to Rs 23,835.7 crore in Q2-16, but witnessed a 3.5 percent q-o-q decline from Rs 25,546.5 crore. Profit after tax (PAT) in the current quarter declined 4.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,460.7 crore (5.9 percent margin) from Rs 1,536.1 crore (6.4 percent margin) and was almost flat (0.1 percent decline) q-o-q as compared to Rs 1,462 crore (5.7 percent margin).
The JIO effect – Company speak.
In a statement, Airtel MD and CEO, India & South Asia, Gopal Vittal said, “Our strong focus on enhancing customer experience and building a robust network has resulted in continued acceleration of revenue market share. Overall revenue momentum in India has been sustained during Q2 with a growth of 10.1 percent y-o-y. This is primarily due to the strong performance of our non-mobile businesses which grew in aggregate at 18.8 percent y-o-y, albeit our mobile business has experienced a slowdown in growths due to free services being offered by a new operator. But, we remain excited about the long term opportunity in India and believe that with the recently acquired spectrum, we are well positioned to lead India’s data revolution”.
