Vodafone Idea announced its financial performance for the December-ending quarter on January 27, post-market hours, reporting a net loss of ₹5,286 crore, lower than the net loss of ₹6,609 crore recorded in the same period last year.
The loss was lower than Bloomberg’s estimate of ₹6,109 crore. In the previous quarter, the company reported a net loss of ₹5,524 crore.
The narrower loss during the quarter was largely driven by exceptional items, including provision write-backs on remeasurement of settlement assets amounting to ₹1,228 crore. In absence of the same, Vodafone Idea’s losses would have risen sequentially.
The company’s revenue from operations increased 2% year-on-year and 1.15% quarter-on-quarter to ₹11,323 crore, also surpassing Bloomberg’s estimate of ₹11,297 crore. The improvement can be attributed to the company’s network expansion and increased data consumption on the network.
Abhijit Kishore, CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited, said “This quarter marked an important inflection point for the company with positive resolution of key legacy issues. We are thankful to the Government for offering a definitive, long-term and conclusive solution on the AGR matter. We also concluded the settlement of CLAM receivable of Rs. 6,394 Crore with the Vodafone Group.”
Meanwhile, the company reported its quarterly results at a time when it has got a breather from the government on payment of its adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues. The Cabinet on 31 December took the decision to freeze the company’s ₹87,695 AGR dues as of December end.
The government had approved the payment plan for the company to clear its frozen AGR dues between FY32 and FY41. As per the Supreme Court orders in October and November, the government has also begun the exercise to reassess the company’s AGR dues. Upon completion of the exercise, the final AGR amount of the company could reduce as well, according to analysts and government officials.
After the AGR dues freeze, the telecom company’s total outgo towards AGR payments over the next six years from March 2026 to March 2031 would be ₹744 crore, a maximum of ₹124 crore per year. It will also have to pay ₹100 crore annually over four years, from March 2032 to March 2035.
Subscriber base declines; ARPU growth remains modest
During the quarter, the company lost 3.8 million subscribers, taking its subscriber base to 192.9 million as of the end of December. In the absence of any headline tariff increase, growth in average revenue per user (ARPU) was limited.
The company’s ARPU grew 3% sequentially to ₹172 a month. In the preceding quarter, the company’s ARPU stood at ₹167. Vodafone Idea’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at ₹4,816 crore, a 2.8% rise from the preceding quarter’s ₹4,685 crore. The EBITDA margin has expanded by 600 basis points YoY to 42.5%.
The company remains engaged with lenders to secure debt financing to support its broader capex plans of ₹50,000–55,000 crore. Last month, the company announced that it raised ₹3,300 crore through secured non-convertible debentures, or NCDs. The fundraise was through Vodafone Idea Telecom Infrastructure Ltd, or VITIL, a subsidiary of Vodafone Idea.
The proceeds from this issuance will be utilised by VITIL to repay past obligations to Vodafone Idea, enabling the telco to bolster its capital expenditure and support business growth.
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