Bharti Airtel Q2 net income gains 33% as lease-free debt falls

Bharti Airtel Ltd reported net income before exceptional items of Rs 9,015.1 crore for the quarter ended September 2026, up 33% year on year, while net debt excluding lease obligations fell 30% to Rs 88,277.1 crore. Bharti Airtel’s consolidated revenue grew 17% to Rs 60,877.5 crore and its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin increased to 57.9%.

How much did Bharti Airtel earn in the September 2026 quarter?

Bharti Airtel earned Rs 9,015.1 crore in net income before exceptional items in the quarter ended September 2026, compared with Rs 6,791.6 crore a year earlier. Consolidated revenue rose 17% to Rs 60,877.5 crore, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, increased 18% to Rs 35,239.5 crore.

Profit before tax increased 27% to Rs 15,608.2 crore and income-tax expense rose 29% to Rs 4,724.5 crore. Profit after tax before exceptional items was Rs 10,883.7 crore, compared with Rs 8,650.7 crore. Non-controlling interest, or NCI, was Rs 1,868.7 crore, little changed from Rs 1,859.1 crore, producing the attributable net-income figure of Rs 9,015.1 crore.

Net income after exceptional items was Rs 8,887.5 crore, up 31% from Rs 6,791.6 crore. The presentation reported exceptional items, net of tax and NCI, of Rs 127.4 crore in the September 2026 quarter, while it reported none in the September 2025 quarter. The consolidated results are based on unaudited financial statements prepared under Indian Accounting Standards, or Ind AS.

What drove Bharti Airtel’s revenue and margin increase?

Bharti Airtel’s revenue increase came from both India SA and Africa in the September 2026 quarter. India SA revenue rose to Rs 42,307.9 crore from Rs 38,690.1 crore, while Africa revenue increased to Rs 18,816.5 crore from Rs 13,679.5 crore. Inter-segment eliminations were Rs 246.9 crore, compared with Rs 224.2 crore a year earlier.

India SA EBITDA increased to Rs 25,729.4 crore from Rs 23,203.9 crore, and its EBITDA margin rose to 60.8% from 60.0%. Africa EBITDA rose to Rs 9,510 crore from Rs 6,715 crore, with its margin increasing to 50.5% from 49.1%. Consolidated EBITDA margin consequently increased by 0.5 percentage points to 57.9%, while earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, rose 23% to Rs 20,556 crore.

India SA generated Rs 8,203.7 crore of net income before exceptional items, up from Rs 6,592.2 crore. Africa generated Rs 1,726.3 crore, up from Rs 969.2 crore. Eliminations and other items were negative Rs 914.8 crore, against negative Rs 769.8 crore in the prior-year quarter, reducing the combined regional figure to consolidated net income of Rs 9,015.1 crore.

For the six months ended September 2026, Bharti Airtel’s consolidated revenue grew 18% to Rs 1,19,416.6 crore and EBITDA rose 19% to Rs 68,838.1 crore. Net income before exceptional items increased 34% to Rs 17,072.4 crore from Rs 12,739.5 crore in the six months ended September 2025.

How did Bharti Airtel reduce debt and generate cash?

Bharti Airtel reduced net debt excluding lease obligations to Rs 88,277.1 crore at September 30, 2026, from Rs 1,26,651.3 crore a year earlier. The 30% decline exceeded the 14% fall in reported net debt, which declined to Rs 1,66,580.5 crore from Rs 1,94,713.1 crore and includes lease obligations.

On a pre-Ind AS 116 basis, Bharti Airtel’s EBITDA after leases, or EBITDAaL, increased 18% to Rs 31,488.4 crore. The EBITDAaL margin rose by 0.7 percentage points to 51.7% from 51.0%. The presentation separately provides EBITDAaL and net debt excluding lease obligations from reported measures that incorporate the Ind AS 116 lease-accounting standard.

Operating free cash flow, defined by the presentation as EBITDA less capital expenditure, rose 23% to Rs 22,772.7 crore in the quarter. Capital expenditure increased 10% to Rs 12,466.8 crore, while EBITDA rose by Rs 5,320.5 crore. For the six months ended September 2026, capex rose 31% to Rs 25,852.8 crore and operating free cash flow increased 12% to Rs 42,985.3 crore.

What changed in Bharti Airtel’s balance sheet?

Bharti Airtel’s total assets increased to Rs 5,68,359.6 crore at September 30, 2026, from Rs 5,23,862.9 crore a year earlier. Non-current assets rose to Rs 4,71,807.7 crore from Rs 4,49,940.7 crore, while current assets increased to Rs 96,551.9 crore from Rs 73,922.2 crore.

Total liabilities increased to Rs 3,68,967.9 crore from Rs 3,63,508.9 crore. Non-current liabilities were Rs 1,83,194.1 crore and current liabilities were Rs 1,85,773.8 crore at September 30, 2026. The rise in total liabilities was smaller than the Rs 44,496.7 crore increase in total assets over the same period.

Equity increased to Rs 1,58,047 crore from Rs 1,17,796 crore, while NCI declined to Rs 41,344.7 crore from Rs 42,558 crore. Cumulative investments were Rs 6,95,257.2 crore, up 8% from Rs 6,44,886.3 crore. Bharti Airtel also disclosed a separate Rs 2,825.8 crore investment in a strategic land parcel for its India data-centre business.

Conclusion

Bharti Airtel’s September 2026-quarter results combined a 17% increase in consolidated revenue, a 0.5-percentage-point expansion in EBITDA margin and a 33% increase in net income before exceptional items. India SA remained the larger earnings contributor, while Africa recorded faster revenue growth and higher net income before exceptional items. Cash generation also rose despite a 10% increase in quarterly capital expenditure, alongside a 30% reduction in lease-excluded net debt.

The disclosed Rs 2,825.8 crore strategic land investment for the India data-centre business is the next development to watch. The presentation identifies the land investment but does not disclose a build-out timetable, capacity target or expected financial contribution, leaving the scale of subsequent spending and operating impact unresolved.