Should you buy, sell or hold Bharti Airtel post Q1 results?
On a sequential basis, the company's net profit declined over 62% from Rs 759.2 crore in the March quarter.
Global brokerages retained their bullish view on telecom major Bharti Airtel after it reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 284 crore for the June quarter against a loss of Rs 15,933 crore a year ago when the company had made provisioning for AGR dues. The scrip traded 0.47% down at Rs 577.45 in the morning trade on August 4, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was up 605 points, or 1.13%, at 54,429 at around the same time.
On a sequential basis, the company’s net profit declined over 62% from Rs 759.2 crore in the March quarter. Goldman Sachs holds a ‘Buy’ call on Bharti Airtel with a target price of Rs 675. UBS, Credit Suisse, CLSA and Citi are also positive on the company with a target price of Rs 655, Rs 750, Rs 730 and Rs 660, respectively.
Goldman Sachs projected that the wireless segment to deliver over 20% revenue and Ebitda growth for the next two years. It also raised FY2022E-24E Ebitda estimates by up to 2%. Goldman Sachs sees upside risks to estimates in the event of market share gains from Vodafone Idea.
The total revenue increased by 15.3% year-on-year to Rs 26,854 crore during the quarter ended June 2021. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, it was up 4.2%. The mobile average revenue per user (Arpu) stood at Rs 146 in June 2021 against Rs 145 in the March quarter and Rs 138 in Q1 FY21.
While announcing its Q1 results, Bharti Airtel said though the wireless revenue was impacted by the Covid lockdown-induced slowdown with regard to device shipments and financial squeeze at the lower end of the market, the overall performance reflected the strength of Airtel’s portfolio.
CLSA estimated a 17% annualised Ebitda growth by FY23 for Bharti Airtel. “We see the stock as compelling at 6.5x EV/Ebitda,” CLSA said.
On the other hand, Credit Suisse added that Q1 results were largely in line with estimates but India mobile was a tad weaker. “We will look forward to management commentary on subscribers in Q2 and views on an affordable smartphones to be offered by Jio and 5G strategy,” the overseas firm said.
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