Bharti Airtel’s DTH revenue declines in 1Q FY23

Bharti Airtel’s direct-to-home (DTH) business has seen an 8% decline in Q1 operating revenue at Rs 748.2 crore compared to Rs 809.4 crore in the same quarter last year.

Operating profit for this segment dropped 12% to Rs 477.9 crore as compared to Rs 542.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The reported EBITDA margin was at 63.9% in the current quarter as compared to 67%.

The reported EBIT for the quarter was Rs 142.3 crore as compared to Rs 269.9 crore. The resultant EBIT margin was at 19% as compared to 33.3% in the corresponding quarter last year.

During the quarter, the company incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 247 crore which is a 16% drop compared to Rs 293.2 crore. Operating Free Cash Flow dropped 7% to Rs 231 crore from Rs 248.9 crore.

Airtel’s DTH customer base shrank by 3.2% YoY to 17.4 million at the end of Q1’23 versus 18 million in the corresponding quarter last year. ARPU for the quarter was Rs 143 as compared to Rs 151 in the corresponding quarter last year.

For the quarter ended June 30, 2022, revenues from Homes operations jumped 42% to Rs 926.5 crore as compared to Rs 653.1 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA for the quarter rose 53% to Rs 492.7 crore as compared to Rs 323 crore. EBITDA margin stood at 53.2% during the quarter as against 49.4% in the corresponding quarter last year.

EBIT for the quarter increased 87% to Rs 176.6 crore as compared to Rs 94.6 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The resultant EBIT margin was at 19.1% as compared to 14.5% in the corresponding quarter last year.

During the quarter ended June 30, 2022, the company incurred a capital expenditure of Rs 660.4 crore up 70% from Rs 389.2 crore in Q1 FY22.

As of June 30, 2022, the company had Homes operations in 983 cities (including LCOs). The company accelerated local cable operator (LCO) partnerships in non-wired cities, taking up the LCO partnership model live in 897 cities.

The segment witnessed revenue growth of 41.9% YoY and customer net additions of 310,000 during the quarter to reach a total base of 4.79 million in Q1’23. On a YoY basis, the customer base increased by 43%. BCS Bureau