Bharti Airtel will report its earnings for the July to September quarter on October 28 and analysts polled by CNBC-TV18 suggest that the telecom major is expected to witness a strong quarter on the back of recent tariff hikes.

Each user is likely to have spent ₹21 more than they spent in the previous quarter, which means the average revenue per user (ARPU) is likely to come in at ₹232 as compared to ₹211 in the previous quarter, as per the CNBC-TV18 poll of analysts.

However, subscriber growth could be likely flat to slightly lower due to subscriber churn, they said.

Bharti Airtel had increased its telecom tariffs by 10-21%, effective July, marking the first increase in prices since December 2021. The telco had then said that it maintains that mobile ARPU needs to be upwards of ₹300, to enable a financially healthy business model for telcos in India.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel is expected to clock in 6% sequentially higher consolidated revenue at ₹40,835 crore versus ₹38,506 crore in the June 2024 ended quarter, analysts have projected. They said that the telco’s India wireless business which is 60% of the business will see a boost from the tariff hikes taken in early July, and the rise in revenue will be driven by the 10% increase in India wireless revenue.

According to the poll, the firm shall report an EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation at ₹21,594 crore for the September quarter, up from ₹19,944.2 crore in the preceding three-month period.

The EBITDA margin is likely to rise marginally to 53% from 51.8% in the previous quarter. Analysts also explained that margins are also expected to expand on the back of expansion in India margins.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel’s rival Jio reported 7% revenue growth during the quarter under review, whereas its EBITDA stood at 53.1% and ARPU went up 7.4% to ₹195.1. Its subscriber base witnessed a decline of 10.9 million on a sequential basis.

Among regions, Airtel Africa has already reported results and its revenue grew 5% quarter-on-quarter in US dollar terms whereas EBITDA went up 8%.

Bharti Airtel shares traded flat at ₹1,666.75 on BSE at 11:39 am.

Track latest stock market updates on CNBCTV18.com’s blog here