Continuing its dramatic turnaround in the earnings in the last few quarters, telecom operator Airtel reported a profit of Rs 853 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, (Q3FY21). The company reported a loss of Rs 1,035 crore during the same period a year ago. The loss was Rs 763 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY21).
The telco's posted highest ever consolidated quarterly revenue for the quarter under review. The revenue from operations increased 24 per cent to Rs 26,518 crore as against Rs 21,343 crore during the same period a year ago. The revenue was Rs 25,060 crore in the September quarter.
Mobile services India revenues up 32.4 per cent year-on-year led by improving realisations coupled with strong customer additions.
The consolidated EBITDA came in at Rs 12,178 crore with an EBITDA margin at 45.9 per cent - an improvement of 464 bps year-on-year, the company said in a filing.
Mobile average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to Rs 166 compared to Rs 135 in the same period a year earlier.
Commenting on the performance, Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said: “Despite the unprecedented volatility that we have confronted through the year, we delivered another strong performance this quarter. This consistency in performance was across every part of our portfolio, as reflected in market share growth across all our business segments."
"This has been made possible due to our agility, the continued re-orientation of our business model and our relentless focus on what truly matters – serving our customers. The main highlight of the quarter was the 13 Million 4G customers we added in our Wireless business," Vittal further said.
"We are also proud to have become India’s first Telco to have demonstrated a LIVE 5G service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city. This reaffirms our strategy to win with quality customers," he said.
Last week, Bharti Airtel said its network is 5G ready and that the company had successfully demonstrated live next-generation 5G service -- with ultra-high speeds -- over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.
Earlier during the day, Bharti Airtel shares hit a record high of Rs 618.75 a piece, up over 3 per cent on BSE, surpassing the previous high of Rs 611.70 clocked on May 20, 2020. The company's scrip ended at Rs 608.8, 1.53 per cent higher on the BSE.
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