(Reuters) -Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel reported a higher quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by a one-time gain and as tariff hikes continued to boost its per-user revenue.
The company’s consolidated net profit rose to 147.81 billion rupees ($1.69 billion) for the third quarter from 24.42 billion rupees a year earlier.
It also reported a one-time gain of 75.46 billion rupees, which mainly includes gains from the rise in valuation of its stake in its unit Indus Towers.
Airtel’s average revenue per user (ARPU), which it leads its rivals by a wide margin, rose 5.2% sequentially and 18% year-on-year to 245 rupees.
Reliance Industries-owned Jio’s ARPU was 203.3 rupees, while Vodafone Idea is yet to post results.
The firms reported ARPU growth of 10.4%, 7.4% and 13.7%, respectively, in the prior quarter after raising tariffs in July, the first time in over two years, marking a shift in strategy from competing for market share to increasing profitability.
Earlier this month, Jio posted a 24.4% jump in profit to 64.77 billion rupees, driven by the tariff hikes.
India’s telecom sector has seen intense competition since Jio’s entry in 2017, with the company quickly overtaking peers to command the largest user base, which stood at 482.1 million at the end of December.
Vodafone, Airtel and Jio had lost between 0.5% to 2.4% of users by the end of September after the hikes.
This hit to the subscriber base appears to have waned in the third quarter, analysts have said.
Airtel’s user base rose 1.7% sequentially to 414 million, as of December 31.
Its revenue from operations rose about 19% to 451.29 billion rupees, above analysts’ estimates of 441.1 billion rupees, per data compiled by LSEG.
Total expenses grew at a slower pace of 14% on-year due to a 14% rise in network-related expenses.
($1 = 87.5470 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Aleef Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
