Bharti Airtel Q4 FY26 Explained: What’s Driving Its 15.7% Revenue Growth

Bharti Airtel reported a solid financial performance for the January–March quarter of FY26, with consolidated revenue rising 15.7% year-on-year to Rs 55,383 crore. The growth was supported by strong execution across its India operations and continued momentum in its Africa business.

Profitability also improved sharply. The company posted a 38.7% year-on-year rise in consolidated net income before exceptional items to Rs 7,245 crore. Meanwhile, consolidated EBITDA rose 16.9% YoY to Rs 32,038 crore, with margins remaining robust at 57.8%.

How is Airtel’s India business contributing to growth?

India continues to be Airtel’s core growth engine. Revenue from the India segment stood at Rs 39,566 crore, up 7.7% year-on-year. This was driven by premiumisation in mobile services, expansion in the home broadband segment, and steady performance from Airtel Business.

Mobile revenues in India increased 8.3% YoY, supported by rising average revenue per user (ARPU) and a growing base of smartphone data users. Airtel’s ARPU climbed to Rs 257 in Q4 FY26 from Rs 245 a year earlier, indicating improved monetisation of its user base.

“The number of smartphone data customers grew by 20.0 million YoY and 5.8 million QoQ, contributing 80% of all mobile customers,” the release stated.

Why is the homes and broadband segment becoming important?

Airtel’s homes business—primarily broadband and connected services—emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments. Revenue from this vertical grew 37.3% YoY, reflecting rising demand for high-speed internet and digital services.

The company added 1.1 million home customers during the quarter, taking its total base to 14.2 million. This signals a strategic shift toward converged offerings, where broadband, OTT, and digital services play a larger role in revenue growth.

What trends are visible in enterprise and digital TV businesses?

Airtel Business showed steady progress, reporting sequential revenue growth of 2.6%. This suggests stable demand from enterprise clients, including connectivity, cloud, and digital solutions.

However, the digital TV segment saw a decline, with revenues falling 2.3% year-on-year, reflecting broader industry challenges and changing consumer preferences toward streaming platforms.

How is Airtel investing in network expansion and infrastructure?

Airtel continued to invest heavily in expanding and strengthening its network. During the quarter, it deployed 2,426 towers and 16,746 mobile broadband base stations.

Over the full year, the company added 7,883 towers and rolled out 43,290 kilometres of fibre. These investments are aimed at supporting 5G rollout, improving coverage, and enhancing data capacity.

Capex for the quarter stood at Rs 16,066 crore, focused on 5G densification, fibre expansion, connected homes, data centres, and enterprise services.

What milestones and strategic developments did Airtel achieve?

The quarter marked several key milestones for Airtel. The company crossed 650 million customers globally, underlining its scale and market presence.

“We crossed the 650 million customer mark, launched our telco grade sovereign cloud, received RBI approval through our subsidiary to commence the lending business, and accelerated the expansion of our data centre footprint,” said Executive Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal.

These developments indicate Airtel’s push beyond traditional telecom into digital infrastructure, cloud, and financial services.

How strong is Airtel’s financial position?

Airtel’s balance sheet showed improvement, with its consolidated net debt-to-EBITDA ratio reducing to 1.29 times from 1.86 times a year ago. This reflects stronger cash flows and disciplined capital allocation.

The company’s board also recommended a final dividend of Rs 24 per fully paid-up equity share for FY26, signaling confidence in its financial stability and future outlook.

(With inputs from ANI)