Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL) Q4 02/03 earnings summary

Executive summary

• FY03 marked a shift to an integrated telecom footprint: 15 mobile circles, six fixed-line circles, national and international long distance, and data services.

• Closing customer base reached 3.44m at March 31, up 127% YoY; GSM market share rose to 24.2% from 21%.

• Consolidated revenue more than doubled to Rs 30,554m and EBITDA to Rs 7,621m; reported net loss was Rs 2,051m, with quarterly net profits starting in Q4.

Financial highlights

• Revenue was Rs 30,554m, up 103% YoY; EBITDA was Rs 7,621m, up 101%, and cash profit from operations was Rs 4,891m.

• Net loss was Rs 2,051m versus Rs 1,805m in FY02; PBT loss narrowed to Rs 1,762m from Rs 1,956m.

• Q4 consolidated revenue exceeded Rs 10,000m, and net profits were recorded in the last two quarters.

• Operating expenses were Rs 13,155m; recurring costs were nearly flat through the final three quarters as cost controls and scale helped absorb expansion.

Outlook and guidance

• Priorities include revenue and profitability growth, customer satisfaction, cost rationalization, scale synergies, and stronger capital productivity.

• Planned focus on improved service, value-added offerings, and customer-centric initiatives, including Six Sigma, rather than competing solely on tariffs.

• Mobile strategy called for controlled market-share growth while protecting service quality and subscriber economics; new licences or businesses could be considered in FY04.

• Management expected Indian mobile customers could reach 100m in the coming years, subject to major infrastructure investment and supportive FDI and external borrowing rules.