Airtel swings into profit after losses in 6 consecutive quarters

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Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel bounced back into profit in the October-December quarter on the back of growing subscribers and higher data usage as more people were forced to work-from-home due to the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
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The second-largest telco has turned profitable after six consecutive loss-making quarters due to a tariff war unleashed by Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio and the requirement to pay huge government dues. </p>
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Airtel’s consolidated profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 worked out to Rs 854 crore compared to a loss of Rs 1,035 crore in the same quarter last year.</p>
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The company’s average revenue per user for the quarter rose 23% to Rs 166. Its consolidated revenue from operations surged 24.2% to Rs 26,518 crore on gains in subscriber base and higher tariffs.</p>
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Airtel’s subscriber base in India grew to 336.2 million, with the company adding 12.9 million 4G subscribers during the last three months of 2020 to reach 165.6 million.</p>
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The telco has been gaining subscribers over the past few months, with analysts pointing out that the firm has also seen gains in some of the key markets of loss-making rival Vodafone Idea.</p>