Bharti Airtel Q4 revenue rises 16%; India ARPU stands at ₹257

Bharti Airtel reported a mixed performance for the fourth quarter of FY26, with strong revenue and operating growth offset by a decline in reported net profit after exceptional items.

For Q4FY26, the telecom major posted total revenues of ₹55,383.2 crore, up 16% year-on-year from ₹47,876.2 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. EBITDA rose 17% to ₹32,038.2 crore compared to ₹27,404.3 crore in Q4FY25.

EBITDA margin improved to 57.8% from 57.2% a year ago, reflecting continued operational efficiencies and premiumisation in the customer mix.

EBIT for the quarter increased 21% year-on-year to ₹18,156 crore, while profit before tax rose 36% to ₹13,205.4 crore.

Net income before exceptional items climbed 39% to ₹7,244.7 crore from ₹5,222.4 crore in the year-ago period. However, reported net income after exceptional items declined 34% to ₹7,325.1 crore from ₹11,021.8 crore in Q4FY25.

The company’s finance cost declined 5% year-on-year to ₹5,034.8 crore. Net debt also reduced sharply by 19% to ₹1,64,788.8 crore, indicating improvement in the balance sheet position.

Bharti Airtel’s capital expenditure during the quarter stood at ₹16,065.6 crore, up 12% year-on-year, while operating free cash flow increased 23% to ₹15,972.6 crore.

In the India mobile business, Airtel continued to witness healthy customer additions and data consumption growth. The company’s customer base stood at 373.2 million as of March 2026, with net additions of 4.7 million users during the quarter.

The India ARPU (average revenue per user) came in at ₹257 during Q4FY26, compared to ₹259 in the previous quarter. Airtel’s postpaid base rose to 28.9 million users from 28.1 million sequentially.

The company also reported continued growth in data usage. Total data customers stood at 299.1 million, of which nearly 296.8 million were 4G/5G users. Average monthly data usage per customer increased to 31.4 GB from 29.8 GB in the previous quarter.

Total data consumption on the network rose to 27,985 million GBs during the quarter, highlighting continued strong demand for high-speed mobile internet services.

Bharti Airtel has been aggressively expanding its 5G footprint across India while continuing investments in network capacity, digital services and enterprise solutions.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice.