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Telecom operator Bharti Airtel (Airtel) on Wednesday reported a consolidated net loss of ₹15,933 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, compared with a net loss of ₹2,866 crore in the corresponding quarter last year.

However, revenue of the Sunil Mittal-owned company rose 15 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to ₹23,939 crore as against ₹20,738 crore during the first quarter ended June 2019.

For the reporting quarter, Airtel's India Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) stood at ₹157 against ₹129 in the June quarter previous year.

Surge in data traffic

“We are going through an unprecedented crisis caused by Covid-19. Despite this, our teams have served the country well and kept our customers connected. Data traffic growth surged by around 73 per cent YoY even as 4G net additions slowed to two-million caused by supply chain shocks in the device eco system,” Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (India and South Asia), Airtel, said.

During the quarter, Airtel and Carlyle entered into an agreement whereby Carlyle will acquire around 25 per cent stake in Airtel’s data centre business at a valuation of $1.2 billion, subject to customary approvals, the company said.

Airtel said during the quarter, 4G data customers were up by 43 million through the year, a growth of 45 per cent YoY to reach 138 million.

Gained customers

The company also highlighted that in India it has gained number of customers to 3,05,689 during the quarter, up more than one per cent YoY compared with 3,01,451 customers in June 2019.

Overall (including Africa), it gained more than four per cent customers at 4,19,996 as against 4,03,695 customers in corresponding period last year.

Airtel's shares closed at ₹566.35 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday, up 0.30 per cent from the previous close.

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