Revenue from operations stood at Rs 7383 crore, up 4.34% from Rs 7075.9 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Profit before tax jumped 43.17% year on year to Rs 2591.8 crore during the quarter.

EBITDA stood at Rs 4,545.3 crore in the June quarter, registering a growth of 29.4% as against Rs 3,514 crore posted in Q1 FY24. EBITDA margin improved to 61.6% in Q1 FY25 as compared to 49.7% in Q1 FY24.

The total tower base grew by 13.93% to 2,25,910 units as on 30 June 2024 as compared to 1,98,284 units as on 30 June 2023. The closing sharing factor was at 1.66 times during the quarter as against 1.75 times in the corresponding quarter last year.

The operating free cash flow was at Rs 1,755.3 crore in Q1 FY25, steeply higher than Rs 535 crore posted in Q1 FY24. The return on equity (pre-tax) improved to 34.7% as against 18.7% on YoY basis [return on equity (post tax) increased to 25.7% as against 13.8% YoY basis]. The return on capital employed improved to 20.9% as against 13.8% on YoY basis.

The company said that Q1 FY25 had a write back Rs 760 crore in provision for doubtful receivables, aided by collections against past overdue.

Prachur Sah, MD and CEO, Indus Towers, said, “Another quarter of robust tower additions reaffirms our competitive strength in the passive infrastructure space. Business growth along with continued collection of past dues underpinned our strong financial performance. We expect network expansion and 5G deployments by our customers to continue to act as growth levers. We are confident of building on these opportunities to create value for our shareholders in a sustainable manner.”

Meanwhile, the company said that its board has approved a share buyback of upto Rs 2,640 crore at a price of Rs 465 per equity share through tender offer route.

The maximum buyback price of Rs 465 per equity share represents a 4.02% premium to Tuesday's closing price of Rs 447.05 on the BSE.

The company plans to buyback up to 5.67 crore equity shares, representing approximately 2.107% of the total number of equity shares in the paid-up share capital of the company.

The board has fixed Friday, 9 August 2024 as the record date for the purpose of determining the entitlement and the names of equity shareholders who would be eligible to participate in the buyback.

Further, the company has been informed by Bharti Airtel, one of the promoters that it does not intend to tender its shares in the buyback.

Promoters currently hold a 52.01% stake in the company. In June 2024, Bharti Airtel increased its stake in Indus Towers from 48% to 49%, while Vodafone Plc sold its 18% stake in Indus Towers through a sale worth approximately Rs 15,300 crore.

Shares of Indus Towers fell 2.72% to currently trade at Rs 434.90 on the BSE.