Bharti Airtel Q2 FY27 income before exceptional items rises 32.7%

Bharti Airtel Limited reported Q2 FY27 net income before exceptional items of Rs 9,015 crore, up 32.7% year on year, as consolidated revenue reached Rs 60,878 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2026; annualised net debt-to-EBITDA fell to 1.18 from 1.63 a year earlier.

How did Bharti Airtel's Q2 FY27 earnings change?

Bharti Airtel's net income before exceptional items increased to Rs 9,015 crore in Q2 FY27 from Rs 6,792 crore in Q2 FY26, while also rising 11.9% sequentially from Rs 8,057 crore in Q1 FY27. The increase exceeded the 16.7% year-on-year rise in consolidated revenue and followed a 26.7% increase in profit before tax, which reached Rs 15,608 crore from Rs 12,322 crore.

Consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, reached Rs 35,240 crore, up 17.8% from Rs 29,919 crore in Q2 FY26 and 4.9% from Rs 33,599 crore in Q1 FY27. EBITDA margin increased by 0.5 percentage points both year on year and quarter on quarter to 57.9%, while earnings before interest and tax, or EBIT, rose 23.3% year on year to Rs 20,556 crore and its margin reached 33.8%.

What drove Bharti Airtel's Q2 FY27 revenue growth?

Bharti Airtel's consolidated revenue rose to Rs 60,878 crore, up 4.0% from Rs 58,539 crore in Q1 FY27 and 16.7% from Rs 52,145 crore in Q2 FY26, led by momentum in India and Africa. India revenue was Rs 42,308 crore, increasing 2.7% sequentially and 9.4% year on year, while Africa reported revenue growth of 25.7% year on year and constant-currency growth of 20.6%.

India mobile revenue increased 10.1% year on year, supported by customer additions and a rise in average revenue per user, or ARPU, to Rs 271 from Rs 256 in Q2 FY26. Management said India mobile revenue grew 3.4% quarter on quarter under its portfolio premiumisation strategy, while smartphone data customers increased by 2.9 million during the quarter and by 18.8 million over the preceding 12 months.

Homes revenue grew 25.3% year on year as quarterly net customer additions reached 676,000 and the total customer base rose to 15.4 million. Bharti Airtel Business recorded 11.4% year-on-year and 3.8% quarter-on-quarter revenue growth, while Digital TV generated Rs 771 crore in quarterly revenue from a 15.6 million customer base; passive infrastructure services revenue increased 4.0% year on year.

How did Bharti Airtel's customers and network expand?

Bharti Airtel's total customer base reached 692.6 million at September 30, 2026, up 1.7% from 680.9 million at June 30, 2026 and 11.1% from 623.6 million a year earlier. India accounted for 498.7 million customers, rising 10.9% year on year, while Africa had 193.9 million customers, up 11.6%; together, the two regions added 12 million customers during Q2 FY27.

The postpaid segment added 1.2 million net customers in Q2 FY27, which Bharti Airtel described as its highest additions in a single quarter, taking the postpaid base to 31.2 million. Smartphone data customers represented 81% of the mobile base, and monthly mobile data usage rose 36.5% year on year to 36.5 gigabytes per customer. Bharti Airtel also added Apple's expanded iCloud+ offering, including Apple TV and Apple Arcade, to its postpaid proposition during the quarter.

Bharti Airtel deployed 497 towers and 11,684 mobile broadband base stations in Q2 FY27. Over the preceding year, network expansion included 5,649 towers and 44,718 kilometres of fibre, according to the release. Management attributed Africa's 6.7% sequential constant-currency revenue growth partly to the rollout of Bharti Airtel's technology stack across markets and group-wide operating synergies.

What happened to Bharti Airtel's capital spending and leverage?

Bharti Airtel reported consolidated capital expenditure of Rs 12,467 crore in Q2 FY27, including India capital expenditure of Rs 9,908 crore. It additionally invested Rs 2,826 crore in a strategic land parcel for data-centre expansion in India, a separate item from reported capital expenditure. Management linked the land purchase to its stated ambition to build 1 gigawatt of data-centre capacity.

The annualised consolidated net debt-to-EBITDA ratio declined to 1.18 at September 30, 2026, from 1.63 at September 30, 2025. Consolidated net debt excluding lease obligations was 0.70 times annualised EBITDA after leases, or EBITDAaL, which was Rs 31,488 crore in Q2 FY27 and represented a 51.7% margin. India EBITDAaL was Rs 23,778 crore, with a 56.2% margin, while India EBITDA was Rs 25,729 crore and its margin was 60.8%.

Conclusion

Bharti Airtel combined 16.7% consolidated revenue growth with a faster 32.7% rise in net income before exceptional items to Rs 9,015 crore in Q2 FY27. India mobile ARPU increased by Rs 15 year on year to Rs 271, Homes revenue grew 25.3%, and Africa delivered 20.6% constant-currency growth alongside the reduction in the annualised net debt-to-EBITDA ratio to 1.18.

The next development to watch is execution against Bharti Airtel's stated ambition for 1 gigawatt of data-centre capacity after its Rs 2,826 crore land investment. Management also said early traction after the commercial launch of Financial Services was encouraging and identified its digital platforms, data analytics and operating model as the foundation for scaling that business.