Bharti Airtel reinstates ₹299 recharge plan three months after withdrawal; Citi explains the implications

Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. were trading 2% lower on Monday, November 9, even as brokerage firm Citi raised its price target on the stock. Citi has maintained its ‘Buy’ rating and increased its price target to ₹2,390 from ₹2,230 earlier.

The revised target implies an upside potential of around 15% from the stock’s previous closing price.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel has reinstated its ₹299 prepaid recharge plan, three months after discontinuing it in August. The move comes amid competitive pressures, as rival telecom operators did not follow Bharti Airtel’s earlier tariff action.

Citi said that the reinstatement of the plan highlights the difficulty of sustaining pricing discipline without broader participation from other industry players. The brokerage also pointed to muted subscriber additions, with Bharti Airtel adding just around 7 lakh subscribers during the September quarter.

Bharti Airtel Q2FY27 results: Key numbers

On a consolidated basis, Bharti Airtel reported a 4% sequential increase in revenue to ₹60,877.5 crore in Q2FY27, compared with ₹58,539.1 crore in the previous quarter. The growth was ahead of the estimated 2.5% increase.

EBITDA margin expanded 50 basis points sequentially to 57.4% from 56.9%, while EBITDA was broadly in line with analyst estimates.

Profit before exceptional items rose 11.9% quarter-on-quarter to ₹9,015.1 crore from ₹8,057.2 crore. Net profit after exceptional items increased 8.8% to ₹8,887.5 crore from ₹8,167.4 crore in the June quarter. The September quarter included a charge of ₹180 crore towards Airtel Money IPO-related expenses.

India mobile biz performance

Revenue from Bharti Airtel’s India mobile business increased 3.4% sequentially to ₹30,943.1 crore from ₹29,928.9 crore. Mobile EBITDA rose 3.8% to ₹18,873.5 crore from ₹18,187.1 crore, with the EBITDA margin standing at 61%.

Mobile EBIT increased 7.4% quarter-on-quarter to ₹10,675.6 crore from ₹9,939.2 crore.

Average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric for telecom operators, improved 2.7% to ₹271 from ₹264 in the previous quarter, reflecting the company’s continued focus on premiumisation and higher-value subscribers.

However, subscriber additions remained subdued. Bharti Airtel added 7.16 lakh net subscribers during Q2FY27, significantly lower than the 32.65 lakh additions recorded in the previous quarter. Monthly subscriber churn also increased 30 basis points to 2.9%.