Bharti Airtel (BHARTI IN) – Q3FY26 Result Update – Premiumization to drive ARPU growth – Accumulate
Published on 07 Feb 2026
Bharti Airtel reported a strong growth this quarter. Performance was driven by India and Africa businesses. In India, the mobile business ARPU stood at Rs259 (vs Rs256 QoQ), with a subs additions of 4.4 mn (vs 1.4 mn QoQ), leading to revenue growth of 9.1% YoY/1.9% QoQ to Rs286.5bn, while EBITDA improved 12.1% YoY/2.2% QoQ to Rs173.3bn. Home services revenue/EBITDA grew 32.6%/34.4% YoY and 7.3%/7.5% QoQ to Rs20.0 bn/Rs10.0bn, respectively. The B2B business revenue declined 5.2% YoY, while EBITDA improved 13.1% YoY; the digital business remained a drag, partly offsetting the growth. Revenue from Africa grew 36.5% YoY/3.5% QoQ, while EBITDA grew 54.3% YoY/10.7% QoQ to Rs150.1 bn and Rs73.0 bn, respectively. Consol. EBITDA increased to Rs307.8 bn (PLe: Rs300.7bn, BBGe: Rs304.6bn), up 25.2% YoY and 4.1% QoQ. Adjusted PAT stood at Rs68.9 bn (PLe:Rs76.5bn, BBGe: Rs71.6bn), up 1.4% QoQ. Company remains focused on driving ARPU growth through premiumization and improvement in customer mix. We continue to maintain an ‘Accumulate’ rating with a target price of Rs2,313 (earlier Rs2,259), based on 14x Dec’27E EV/EBITDA for the India business and adding the value of investments in Airtel Africa, Indus Towers and Bharti Hexacom.
