New Delhi [India], May 13 (ANI): Bharti Airtel posted a 38.7 per cent year-on-year rise in consolidated net income before exceptional items to Rs 7,245 crore in the fourth quarter of FY26, driven by strong growth in its India business and robust performance in Africa, according to the company's earnings release.

The telecom major reported consolidated revenues of Rs 55,383 crore for the January-March quarter, up 15.7 per cent year-on-year and 2.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Consolidated EBITDA rose 16.9 per cent YoY to Rs 32,038 crore, while EBITDA margin stood at 57.8 per cent.

India revenues for the quarter stood at Rs 39,566 crore, registering a growth of 7.7 per cent YoY, led by mobile premiumisation, expansion in the homes segment and consistent delivery by Airtel Business.

The company said India mobile revenues increased 8.3 per cent YoY, supported by higher average revenue per user (ARPU) and growth in smartphone data customers. Airtel's mobile ARPU rose to Rs 257 in Q4 FY26 from Rs 245 in the corresponding quarter last year.

'The number of smartphone data customers grew by 20.0 million YoY and 5.8 million QoQ, contributing 80% of all mobile customers,' the release stated.

The homes business continued its strong momentum, with revenue growing 37.3 per cent YoY. Airtel added 1.1 million home customers during the quarter, taking the total customer base to 14.2 million.

Airtel Business reported sequential revenue growth of 2.6 per cent, while digital TV revenues declined 2.3 per cent YoY.

During the quarter, Airtel deployed 2,426 towers and 16,746 mobile broadband base stations to strengthen its network infrastructure. Over the past year, the company added 7,883 towers and deployed 43,290 kilometres of fibre.

The company also highlighted that it crossed the milestone of 650 million customers globally during the quarter. 'We crossed the 650 million customer mark, launched our telco grade sovereign cloud, received RBI approval through our subsidiary to commence the lending business, and accelerated the expansion of our data centre footprint,' said Executive Vice Chairman Gopal Vittal.

On the balance sheet front, Airtel said its consolidated net debt to EBITDA ratio improved to 1.29 times from 1.86 times a year ago, reflecting strong cash generation and disciplined capital allocation.

Capex during the quarter stood at Rs 16,066 crore, with investments focused on 5G densification, fibre rollout, connected homes, data centres and enterprise services.

The company's board recommended a final dividend of Rs 24 per fully paid-up equity share for FY26. (ANI)