Airtel Q1 revenue tops estimates; brokerages raise targets

The Homes segment posted 33.2 per cent year-on-year revenue growth, adding 473,000 customers during the quarter to reach a base of 14.7 million. Airtel Business grew revenues 12 per cent year-on-year. Africa operations delivered 21.1 per cent revenue growth in constant currency, with the customer base at 189 million. During the quarter, Airtel completed a share swap transaction that raised its stake in Airtel Africa to over 79 per cent. Total consolidated customer base stood at 680.9 million across 15 countries.

Consolidated net debt to EBITDA improved to 1.17 from 1.70 a year ago. Capex for the quarter was ₹13,386 crore.

Brokerages were broadly positive. Citi maintained a Buy with a target price of ₹2,190, noting India mobile revenue and EBITDA came in 1.5 per cent ahead of estimates and that net debt declined 5 per cent sequentially. CLSA retained an Outperform rating with a target of ₹2,330, flagging consolidated free cash flow of ₹165 billion for the quarter. Macquarie (Outperform, target ₹2,220) and Jefferies (Accumulate, target ₹2,360) cited better-than-expected ARPU and subscriber metrics as key positives. Jefferies projects 14 per cent and 28 per cent compound annual growth rates in EBITDA and earnings per share respectively over FY27 to FY29.

During the quarter, Airtel launched Postpaid Fast Lane, powered by 5G slicing technology, and announced Airtel Secure Workforce, a Zero Trust Architecture security platform for enterprises.