BHARTIARTL - Bharti Airtel Ltd. Share Price

During the earnings call on August 6, 2025, Bharti Airtel management provided an optimistic outlook, highlighting strong financial performance alongside strategic growth initiatives. The consolidated revenue for Q1 stood at Rs.49,463 Crores, bifurcated into India revenues (excluding Indus) at approximately Rs.33,820 Crores. The EBITDAaL margin reached 51.4%, showing a sequential increase of 65 basis points. The operating free cash flow was reported at Rs.11,928 Crores.

Management emphasized plans to enhance operational efficiency and revenue streams through ongoing investments in 5G expansion. As of the end of the quarter, Bharti Airtel boasted 152 million 5G customers, underpinning their belief in continued smartphone penetration and 5G technology adoption, with these handsets now comprising 86% of total smartphone shipments.

Key forward-looking points included:

1. The aim to ramp up fiber home passes to a quarterly target of 2.5 million, up from the current 1.6 million.
2. Continued commitment to international roaming, feature phone to smartphone upgrades, and bundling content to drive ARPU, currently at Rs.250.
3. Competitive growth in the broadband segment, with record net adds of 939,000 and momentum in fixed wireless access (FWA) customers at 5.4 lakh.
4. Strong performance in the Digital TV sector with increased acceptance of IPTV, compensating for some losses in DTH subscriptions.
5. Strategic focus on bolstering B2B services, targeting high-margin areas such as Cloud, Cybersecurity, and IoT.

In summary, Bharti Airtel's management projected a sustained growth trajectory, reinforced by strategic investments and an agile response to market opportunities, ensuring continued enhancements to their financial framework and service quality.

Here are the major questions and answers from the Q&A section of the earnings call transcript:

1. Question by Mr. Manish Adukia "“ Goldman Sachs: "Now, last year, the India wireless business in particular did about 2.5 billion of capex... Are there any particular reasons why in the foreseeable future at least, the capex will or has to move higher...?"

   Answer: "Currently, capex has been low. Over Q4 and Q1, we see fluctuations, but we average around our current run rate. Radio capex trends down, while investments in fiber and transport remain strong. For non-wireless capex, the B2B business, data centers, and home segments share capex. Cloud is modular, and we're ready for expansion when capacities fill, and data centers are also growing."

2. Question by Mr. Manish Adukia "“ Goldman Sachs: "On the AGR payments... What are your expectations around it at this point in time and the second bit is just on shareholder payouts...?"

   Answer: "We've written to the government for relief like other telcos; we'll follow their decision. With improving balance sheet strength and free cash generation, we aim to enhance dividends as leverage decreases, alongside exploring growth in adjacencies like Cloud and security."

3. Question by Mr. Piyush Choudhary "“ HSBC: "Gopal, you talked about value proposition of Airtel Cloud... Can you share some color on the size of the contracts you've signed?..."

   Answer: "The Cloud market is enormous, estimated at about 60,000 Crores, and growing rapidly. We expect multi-million dollar contracts over five years, with strong margins and low capex needs. We're enhancing go-to-market capabilities in software, leveraging our strong internal development."

4. Question by Mr. Sachin Salgaonkar "“ Bank of America: "What key drivers will affect underlying growth for Airtel Business and expected steady-state growth and margin?"

   Answer: "Our growth drivers span five segments including connectivity, IoT, and Cloud. Connectivity is solid, IoT is booming with a 60% market share, while margins vary. Overall, the growth outlook for Cloud and IoT is strong, contributing positively to our revenue."

5. Question by Mr. Sanjesh Jain "“ ICICI Securities: "Do you think the win we doing because of distribution-led benefit will taper off with the expansion slowing down?"

   Answer: "We believe there are opportunities remaining. We've rolled out 45,000 sites and can improve utilization further. ARPU growth should help us maintain market share, given low penetration in postpaid and room for smartphone upgrades."

6. Question by Mr. Vivekanand Subbaraman "“ Ambit: "How should investors think about value unlocking in your portfolio...?"

   Answer: "On tariff, there's potential for growth due to low ARPU compared to other markets. Our focus remains on strengthening our digital capabilities and exploring strategic partnerships across subsidiaries with the potential for IPOs and continued support for our core services."

7. Question by Mr. Aditya Suresh "“ Macquarie: "On Perplexity and Bajaj partnership, can you comment on the economics?"

   Answer: "Perplexity provides distribution access at low costs. While we prioritize enhancing our customer experience, Bajaj finance partnerships are scaling well, focusing on low delinquency rates and proper customer targeting for growth."

8. Question by Mr. Kunal Vohra "“ BNP Paribas: "What is so different about your customer profile, that the data traffic is much higher than the rest of the industry?"

   Answer: "Higher Wi-Fi penetration reduces mobile data reliance elsewhere. Our customers increase usage in areas with less Wi-Fi availability, contributing to the 29 GB per user monthly average, driven by growing disposable income and demographic shifts."

This summary maintains a concise and clear record of the questions and respective management responses while including key figures and insights mentioned in the earnings call.