Indus Towers Limited has strengthened its African expansion strategy by incorporating a new wholly owned subsidiary in the United Arab Emirates. The company disclosed that Indus Towers Management FZE was incorporated on December 19, 2025, through its existing wholly owned subsidiary, Indus Towers FZE.

Latest Subsidiary Formation

The newly incorporated entity will serve as an investment vehicle for the company's expansion into African markets, specifically targeting Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia. The subsidiary has been established in the Dubai World Trade Centre with a structured share capital arrangement.

African Market Investment Strategy

This development builds upon Indus Towers' previously announced plans to expand into three African countries. The Board of Directors had earlier approved this strategic move, which leverages the company's existing partnership with Bharti Airtel in Africa. The UAE subsidiary will facilitate investments and operations in Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia, providing a strong foundation for establishing presence in these promising markets.

Regulatory Compliance and Structure

The incorporation follows all necessary regulatory requirements under SEBI regulations. The company has made the required disclosures under Regulation 30 of SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015. The entity is classified as a step-down wholly owned subsidiary and is considered a related party to Indus Towers Limited. The contribution to initial share capital will be made in cash at face value.

Strategic Positioning for Growth

As India's largest provider of passive telecom infrastructure with 251,773 telecom towers across all 22 telecom circles, Indus Towers is well-positioned to replicate its domestic success in African markets. The company's expansion aligns with the Indian government's vision of encouraging domestic enterprises to evolve into multinational entities, enhancing India's global economic footprint.

This strategic move represents a concrete step towards materializing Indus Towers' international growth ambitions, with the UAE subsidiary serving as the operational foundation for its African market entry.

Indus Towers , India's leading telecom tower infrastructure provider, has reported robust financial results for the first quarter, demonstrating strong growth and operational performance despite challenging weather conditions.

Key Financial Highlights

• Gross revenues increased by 9.1% year-on-year to ₹80.60 billion
• Core rental revenue grew by 10.1% year-on-year to ₹51.10 billion
• EBITDA declined 3.4% year-on-year to ₹43.90 billion
• EBITDA margin stood at 54.5%, down 7.1 percentage points year-on-year

Operational Performance

Indus Towers continued its strong momentum in tower and co-location additions during the quarter:

• Added 2,468 macro towers, bringing the total to 251,800
• Added 5,777 co-locations, increasing the total to 411,200
• Maintained a portfolio tenancy ratio of 1.63
• Expanded solar site count to over 32,000, with 2,250 sites added during the quarter

Network Resilience and Uptime

Despite facing challenging weather conditions, including an early onset of monsoon and increased weather-related disruptions, Indus Towers managed to maintain a high network uptime of 99.96%. This achievement underscores the company's operational excellence and commitment to service quality.

Strategic Initiatives and ESG Focus

The company continued to make progress on its strategic priorities:

• Expanded IBS (In-Building Solutions) deployments, achieving the highest quarterly additions in its history
• Advanced its decarbonization roadmap to achieve near-term targets approved by SBTi
• Launched 'Sankalp', a safety campaign to improve technician safety when working at heights
• Improved gender diversity, with women representation in the workforce increasing to 15.7% from 11.2% in the same period last year

Dividend Policy Update

In a significant move, the Board of Directors has decided to conserve cash in the short term and suspend dividend distribution. This decision will be reassessed by the end of the financial year, taking into account factors such as the evolving industry landscape, customer stability, elevated capex requirements, and potential inorganic growth opportunities.

Management Commentary

Prachur Sah, Managing Director and CEO of Indus Towers, commented on the results: "We are pleased to have started the financial year on a strong note, continuing the momentum built previously. Our operational excellence and customer-centric approach have enabled us to maintain a majority market share in our customers' rollouts, resulting in healthy tower and co-location additions from all our customers."

Vikas Poddar, CFO, added: "It has been a good start to the year, underpinned by healthy co-location additions and notable financial performance. We continue to sharpen our focus on cost efficiency and technology-led transformation, including automation and AI."

Future Outlook

With structural growth drivers firmly in place, including rising data consumption and increasing 5G adoption, Indus Towers remains confident in its ability to deliver sustainable value in an evolving market. The company expects robust tower rollout momentum to continue based on strong order book visibility for the next 4-6 quarters.

Indus Towers' Q1 results demonstrate the company's resilience and ability to deliver growth despite challenges, positioning it well to capitalize on the ongoing digital transformation in India's telecom sector.