Shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd. plummeted over 4% in early trading on Friday. It also recorded an intraday low of ₹2,005 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). This sharp decline was triggered by a massive block deal carried out before the market opened. A stakeholder of the telecom giant sold out a significant portion of its holdings.
Pastel Ltd., a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel), in a block deal sold approximately 5.1 crore shares, which represents a 0.8% stake in the company, as cited on CNBC TV18 reports.
The total value of the deal is around ₹10,300 crores. Singtel sold the shares at a floor price of ₹2,030 per share, which is at a discount of roughly 3.1% to its previous closing price. This move would help Singtel to unlock value from its investments.
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Strong Q2 earnings
The sell-offs took place just as the telecom giant posted its powerful Q2 FY26 financial results, which ended on September 30, 2025. Bharti Airtel reported a surge of 89% Year-on-Year (YoY) in consolidated net profit, which is valued at ₹6,791.7 crores. This performance was driven by strong revenue growth and improved operational efficiency.
Consolidated revenue jumped by 25.7% YoY to ₹52,145 crore. Revenue from operations surged by 26% to ₹52,145 crore in the July-September period from ₹41,473 crore a year earlier. In Q2, Bharti Airtel reported an EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of ₹29,919 crores with the EBITDA margin at 57.4%.
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The company’s ARPU rose to ₹256, which is a major jump from 233 in the same quarter last year. Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is an important indicator of profitability in the telecom sector.
Bharti Airtel’s total customer base increased to nearly 624 million across its 15 operational countries. Its domestic business showed a strong growth momentum, adding about 9,51,000 new customers.
Other significant updates
As per Upstox reports, on November 3, Bharti Airtel approved the acquisition of an additional 5% stake in its telecom infrastructure subsidiary Indus Towers. As of September 30, the company holds a 51.03% stake in Indus Towers.
An Airtel document showed that the company has a total pending AGR liability of ₹38,604 crore as of March 31, 2025, with the first instalment of ₹5,054.4 crore to be paid in the current fiscal year, as mentioned in Upstox reports.
As of 12:00 PM IST, Bharti Airtel is priced at ₹2001.10 in the National Stock Exchange, which is significantly down from the opening price of ₹2048.00 and its previous close, which was at ₹2094.90.
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