Mumbai’s telecom giant Bharti Airtel unveiled its Q3 FY26 results on Thursday, revealing a sharp 55% plunge in net profit to ₹6,630.5 crore for the October-December period. This marks a significant downturn from the ₹14,781.2 crore recorded in the same quarter a year earlier.
The steep decline stems primarily from a high base effect last year, when Airtel booked an exceptional gain of ₹7,545.6 crore in Q3 FY24. Compounding the pressure, new labor code provisions added an extra ₹256.8 crore in expenses, further eroding profitability.
Quarter-on-quarter, profits dipped 2.3% from ₹6,791.7 crore in the September quarter. Despite the profit setback, total revenue soared 19.92% year-over-year to ₹54,683.9 crore, up from ₹45,599 crore.
Expenses climbed 12.98% to ₹23,198.8 crore, reflecting operational expansions and regulatory costs. A standout metric was the average revenue per user (ARPU), which hit ₹259, rising from ₹256 in Q2 and ₹245 a year ago, signaling robust pricing power amid tariff hikes.
Data consumption exploded, with 26,056 million GB used on the network—a 6.6% QoQ jump and 29.2% YoY surge. Per-user monthly data usage reached 29.8 GB, up 5% from 28.3 GB in Q2 and 21.5% from 24.5 GB last year.
Workforce optimization continued, with employee count shrinking to 24,186, down 205 from Q2 and 340 from last year. Airtel’s management remains focused on 5G rollout and market consolidation, positioning for sustained growth despite near-term headwinds.