Q3-2015: Airtel Digital TV services segment posts 11.4% y-o-y subscriber growth

Q3-2015: Airtel Digital TV services segment posts 11.4% y-o-y subscriber growth

BENGALURU: Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) reported y-o-y growth of 5.8 per cent to Rs 23217.1 crore in Q3-2015 from the Rs 21938.5 crore in Q3-2014. The company says that consolidated mobile data revenues at Rs 2,872 crore grew by 61.9 per cent y-o-y, uplifted by higher data usage. Mobile data revenues now contribute more than 85 per cent of the incremental revenues of the company. India revenues registered a growth of 12.6 per cent y-o-y across segments, led by 13.0 per cent in mobile, 13.2 per cent in Telemedia and 15.8 per cent in Digital TV.

 

Overall, the company reported an 8.9 per cent growth in number of subscribers across 20 countries in the current quarter to 31,29,05,000 from 28,74,09,000 in Q3-2014 and a 3 per cent growth from 30,37,09,000 in the immediate trailing quarter. Airtel’s Digital TV services subscribers grew 11.4 per cent in Q3-2015 to 98,10,000 from 88,07,000 in Q3-2014 and 2.8 per cent from 95,40,000 in Q2-2015.

 

Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

 

Revenue from Digital TV services segment grew 15.8 per cent to Rs 623.4 crore in Q3-2015 from Rs 538.4 crore in Q3-2014. During 9M-2015, digital TV services revenue grew EBIDTA for the segment grew 76 per cent to Rs 170.7 crore from Rs 97.2 crore in the year ago quarter. The company reported Rs 7.7 crore positive operating cash in Q3-2015 versus a negative Rs 13.7 crore cash flow in Q3-2014.

 

Capex for this segment increased by 47 per cent to Rs 163 crore in Q3-2015 as compared to the Rs 110.9 crore in Q3-2014. 9M-2015 capex increased 48 per cent to Rs 651.2 crore in the current quarter from Rs 439.1 crore in 9M-2014. Airtel’s cumulative investments in the segment increased 18 per cent to Rs 5298.4 crore in Q3-2015 from Rs 4471.2 crore in Q3-2014.

 

Airtel MD and CEO, India & South Asia Gopal Vittal said, “Airtel's revenue growth in India has continued to accelerate. Revenue growth of 12.6 per cent in Q3-2015 is the highest in 9 quarters. We remain focused on driving topline through stepped up customer acquisitions with continued focus on churn, ensuring pricing stability, and path-breaking innovations in mobile data. Our mobile data growth is at 74.3 per cent in Q3-2015. On the regulatory front, the industry has welcomed the announcement of the timetable for the spectrum auctions in March 2015.”