Bharti Airtel

In the quarter ended June 2026 (reported 4 August 2026), consolidated revenue was ₹58,539 crore, up 18.4% year-on-year, with an EBITDA margin around 57% and profit attributable to owners of ₹8,167 crore, up 37.3% YoY. India mobile ARPU rose to ₹264 from ₹250 (+5.6% YoY); management attributed part of this to an extra day in the quarter and plan mix, not purely tariffs. The flagged distortion: Airtel Africa's reported revenue grew 45% YoY, but management described underlying constant-currency growth there as closer to single digits - the gap is largely because Airtel's own ownership stake in Airtel Africa rose from about 62.6% to 79% during the period, so more of the same business is now consolidated into Airtel's books. India segment sub-line totals also did not fully reconcile against the headline India revenue figure in the data reviewed, and two slightly different EBITDA figures (₹33,599 crore vs ₹33,303 crore) circulate without a clear explanation of the difference - treat both as directionally right but not pinned down to the rupee.

Trailing P/E estimates range from about 36x to 39x depending on source (Screener.in vs stockanalysis.com disagree, likely on the TTM window used), and P/B estimates range from roughly 5.6x to 7.4x. Why it looks expensive: the market is pricing in continued ARPU growth from tariff hikes, Africa's growth runway, 5G monetization (which management says is mostly software-led with modest extra capex) and continued deleveraging. Whether that is deserved is a separate question - part of the recent growth comes from consolidation accounting (the Africa stake increase) rather than organic volume or pricing, so the multiple is partly a bet on execution still to come, not fully proven in the numbers so far.

Growth is a mix, not purely one or the other. On the volume side, group subscribers rose to about 680.9 million (+12.5% YoY) with India subscribers up to about 491.9 million, and postpaid net additions were described by management as the highest ever in a quarter - that is real volume growth. On the margin/pricing side, India ARPU rose 5.6% YoY to ₹264, partly from an extra billing day. Layered on top is a consolidation effect: raising the Airtel Africa stake to 79% mechanically boosted reported Africa revenue growth (45% YoY) far above the underlying constant-currency growth management described. Strip that out and organic growth looks more modest than the headline numbers suggest.

Profits are converting into a visibly improving balance sheet: consolidated net debt/EBITDA (including leases) fell to 1.17x from 1.70x a year earlier, and on an ex-lease basis is quoted around 0.7x. ROE is around 20% and ROCE around 17.6%, both healthy for a capital-intensive telecom. The main risk here is business risk, not financial risk: dependence on tariff hikes continuing to stick, capex needs for 5G and the data-centre business (scaling toward a 1GW target), and currency/regulatory volatility in the African operations - the debt position itself is on an improving trajectory and not an immediate concern.

Promoter and promoter-group holding stands at 50.07%, up from 48.87% a quarter earlier, but that increase came from a preferential allotment of shares tied to the Airtel Africa stake swap, not open-market buying - worth distinguishing from a conviction purchase. Promoter pledging is nil. Singtel's visible stake via Pastel Limited is 7.49%, though Singtel's broader look-through stake has historically been quoted much higher (around 27-28%) and could not be reconciled with current filings in this review - flagged as unverified rather than stated as fact. Google International LLC still holds its 1.17% stake from the 2022 deal. No current disclosed holding for GQG Partners, ADIA or QIA was found in the register reviewed - if you were expecting a marquee global investor name here, it is not currently visible at disclosable thresholds.