Airtel re-named Gopal Vittal as MD and CEO

Bharti Airtel, India's no. 2 telco, Wednesday said that its board has reappointed Gopal Vittal as Managing Director & CEO for a further period of five years ending on January 31st, 2028. “We wish to inform you that based on the recommendations of HR & nomination committee and subject to the approval of shareholders, the Board of Directors, has approved the re-appointment of Gopal Vittal, Managing Director designated as 'Managing Director & CEO' for a further period of five years i.e. from February 01, 2023 to January 31, 2028”, Airtel said in a notice to the stock exchanges.

Gopal is “not debarred from holding the office of director by virtue of any order of SEBI or any other such

authority”, Airtel added. The reappointment came on a day the telco posted consolidated net profit at Rs.2,007.8 crore in the March quarter, up 141 percent sequentially and 164 percent on year. Analysts had estimated net profit of around Rs.1,970 crore. This was Airtel’s sixth successive quarter in the black after six straight losses earlier. The telco’s ARPU, key performance metric, grew to Rs.178 from Rs.163 in the December quarter. In comparison, market leader Reliance Jio and loss-making Vodafone Idea had clocked an ARPUs of Rs.167.6 and Rs.124, respectively.

In comparison, market leader reliance jio and loss-making vodafone idea had clocked an arpus of rs.167.6 and rs124, respectively

Airtel’s consolidated revenue grew 22.3 percent from the year earlier, and 5.5 percent sequentially to Rs.31,500 crore. In the just-ended quarter, Airtel added 3.12 million users to its mobile business on a net basis to end with 326.04 million users. Monthly churn fell marginally to 2.8 percent from 2.9 percent in the preceding quarter, despite the doubling of rates of the base prepaid plans.