Analysts expect Bharti Airtel’s Q1 profit to halve QoQ; stable ARPU likely

Analysts are pencilling-in a muted quarter for telecom companies marked by flattish average revenue per user (ARPU) growth and lean subscriber addition. Among the listed companies, Bharti Airtel, which is slated to report its June 2021 quarter (Q1FY21) results on Tuesday, August 3, may report stable ARPU sequentially and nearly flat revenue growth, analysts say.

“The second wave led lockdown is likely to lower the subscriber addition momentum from 13-14 million quarterly run rate to around 2 million in Q1FY22. Furthermore, the quarter is also expected to witness the impact of extension of validity for bottom of the pyramid customers, restricting ARPU,” noted analysts at ICICI Securities in a pre-result report.