Summary:
CLSA has maintained its ‘Outperform’ rating on Bharti Airtel with a target price of ₹2,310, implying a potential upside of 26.6%, driven largely by the planned Airtel Money IPO in the second half of 2026. The brokerage highlighted Airtel Money’s strong FY26 performance, with revenue rising 36% and EBITDA increasing 31%, while noting significant growth potential due to low mobile money penetration, particularly in Nigeria. CLSA also sees additional growth drivers from tariff hikes, increasing data consumption, 5G expansion, enterprise services, and fixed wireless access. Despite a decline in Q4 FY26 profit, Bharti Airtel reported solid revenue growth and announced a final dividend for shareholders.
Brokerage firm CLSA has reiterated its ‘Outperform’ recommendation on Bharti Airtel, setting a 12-month target price of ₹2,310, which indicates a potential upside of 26.6%. The assessment follows plans to list Airtel Money, the digital payments arm of Airtel Africa, during the second half of 2026.
Airtel Money IPO Seen as a Key Catalyst
The proposed Airtel Money listing is expected to take place in H2 2026 and could raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. Market reports have suggested an estimated valuation of around $10 billion, significantly higher than its 2021 valuation. London is widely viewed as the preferred destination for the public offering.
Strong Financial Performance
Airtel Money delivered robust growth in FY26, with revenue increasing 36% year-on-year to $1.4 billion, while EBITDA rose 31% to $689 million. The business maintained an EBITDA margin of 50.8%, outperforming the broader African operations, which reported a margin of 49.3%.
CLSA noted that Nigeria, Airtel Africa’s largest market, remains at an early stage of mobile money adoption, with only 2.7 million subscribers. As a result, the brokerage expects the strong growth trajectory of 31–36% witnessed in FY26 to continue.
According to CLSA, Airtel Money contributes around 20% of Airtel Africa’s earnings, while the African business accounts for roughly 25% of Bharti Airtel’s consolidated operations before minority interests. The brokerage also highlighted that Bharti Airtel is in the process of increasing its holding in Airtel Africa to 78%. Its valuation currently factors in Bharti’s 62% stake in Airtel Africa based on market capitalisation and does not assign a separate value to Airtel Money.
Significant Growth Opportunity
Mobile money penetration across Airtel Africa’s subscriber base remains relatively low at 29% of its 184 million mobile users. East Africa currently generates 74% of Airtel Money’s revenue, while Nigeria offers considerable expansion potential as services continue to scale up.
Additional Growth Drivers
Beyond the anticipated IPO, CLSA believes Bharti Airtel’s future growth will be supported by tariff increases, expanding mobile data usage, and continued 5G deployment across urban centres and strategically important rural regions. Other potential triggers include the possible listing of Reliance Jio and any favourable developments in the long-running Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) matter.
The brokerage noted that Bharti Airtel remains focused on increasing data adoption among its 342 million mobile users in India, where penetration currently stands at about 70%. It also sees opportunities from enterprise-focused 5G services and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) offerings.
Bharti Airtel Stock Performance
Bharti Airtel’s stock has slipped by more than 1% over the past five trading sessions. The share price is down 0.5% over the last month, 15% over six months, and more than 4% over the previous year.
Q4 FY26 Results
For the fourth quarter of FY26, Bharti Airtel reported a consolidated net profit of ₹7,325 crore, representing a 34% decline compared to ₹11,021 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. However, consolidated revenue rose 16% year-on-year to ₹55,383 crore from ₹47,876 crore.
The company also recommended a final dividend of ₹24 per fully paid-up equity share with a face value of ₹5 and ₹6 per partly paid-up equity share of the same face value.
