Bharti Airtel posts mixed Q2FY16 result : African segment report promising

Bharti Airtel (BAL) posted its Q2FY16 results today. The company's consolidated revenue increased by 0.72 per cent to Rs 23852 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to the previous quarter. It’s total expenditure increased by 1.15 per cent to Rs 15602 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis. BAL's total expenditure increased predominantly due to a 2.74 per cent increment in network operations cost, 1.8 per cent increment in Access charges and 0.74 per cent increment in License fees during the quarter.

BAL's EBITDA decreased by 0.07 per cent to Rs 8250 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to previous quarter. The company's EBITDA margin contracted by 27 basis points to 34.59 per cent in the Q2FY16 on quarterly basis.Its EBIT also declined by 4.85 per cent to Rs 4011 crore in Q2FY16 as the depreciation expense increased by 4.92 per cent to Rs 4239 crore during the quarter. Though BAL has received exceptional gain of Rs 660 crore on the divestment of telecom tower assets in Zambia, Uganda and Kenya during Q2FY16, PBT decreased by 26.81 per cent to Rs 2723 crore during the quarter on quarterly basis.The company's net profit decreased by 2.03 per cent to Rs 1523 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to previous quarter. Its net profit margin contracted by 18 basis points to 6.38 per cent in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis.

On segmental revenue front, BAL earned 79.11 per cent from Mobile services segment, 7.89 per cent from Airtel Business segment, 5.41 per cent from Infrastructure segment, 4.58 per cent from Telephony Services segment,2.75 per cent revenue from DTH segment and remaining 0.26 per cent from others segment during Q2FY16. Geographically, its Africa Mobile services revenue increased by 1.83 per cent to 6272 crore, while its South Asia mobile services revenue increased by 9 per cent to Rs 405 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis. BAL's India mobile services revenue declined by 1.04 per cent to Rs 13656 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis.

On yearly basis, BAL's revenue increased by 4.33 per cent to Rs 23852 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to the same period in previous financial year. The company's total expenditure increased by 2.94 per cent in Q2FY16 on yearly basis. Its EBITDA increased by 7.07 per cent to Rs 8250 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to same period in fiscal year. BAL's EBITDA margin expanded by 89 basis points to 34.59 per cent on yearly basis. The net profit of the company also rose by 10.09 per cent to Rs 1523 crore in Q2FY16 as compared to same period in previous financial year. It's net profit margin expanded by 33 basis points to 6.38 per cent in Q2FY16 on yearly basis.

BAL has total customer base 34 crore as of Q2FY16 witnessed growth of 2.45 per cent on quarterly basis and 11.9 per cent on yearly basis. The company's mobile data revenue increased by 49.8 per cent to Rs 381 crore in Q2FY16 on yearly basis. It's Indian mobile customer base increased by 1.97 per cent to 23.52 crore in Q2FY16. BAL's ARPU decreased to Rs 193 in Q2FY16 from Rs 198 in Q2FY15. The company's data customer base increased by 3.12 per cent to 5.1 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis. Its 3G data customer base rose by 11.87 per cent to 2.39 crore in Q2FY16 on quarterly basis. Data ARPU stood at Rs 193 in Q2FY16 against Rs 181 in Q1FY16. BAL has Africa customer base of 8.08 crore having ARPU USD 4.3 as of Q2FY16. The company's Africa data customer base of 1.43 crore with ARPU USD 3.4 in September 2015 quarter. It launched high speed 4G services commercially in 334 towns across India.

BAL's shareholding pattern indicates that FII holdings expanded by 244 bsais points to 18.72 per cent while its DII holdings contracted by 258 basis points to 6.88 per cent in Q2FY16. The company's share price decreased by 3.19 per cent on BSE and is trading at Rs 351.1 on intraday basis.

BAL is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.The company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, its product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers.