Telco’s Loss Marginally Dips To Rs 7,297 Crore; ARPU Rises 23 Per Cent


Vodafone Idea on Wednesday clocked a marginal decline in its consolidated net loss at Rs 7,297 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 (Q1). The telco reported a net loss of Rs 7,319 crore in the preceding quarter, according to the Vodafone Idea press release.

Vodafone Idea’s revenue from operations rose 14 per cent to Rs 10,410 crore as against Rs 9,152 crore in Q1FY22.

Average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter stood at Rs 128 versus Rs 104 in Q1FY22, up 23.4 per cent helped by tariff hikes.

Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited, said, “We are pleased to announce fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. We continue to witness 4G subscriber growth on the back of superior data and voice experience offered by Vi GIGAnet as well as due to our focus on creating differentiated digital experience for our customers. In the recently concluded spectrum auction, we have acquired sufficient spectrum in our key markets to offer superior 5G experience to our customers.”

“We also completed the first tranche of fundraising in the form of preferential equity contribution of Rs 4,940 crore from our promoters, including the incremental infusion of Rs 4,400 crore by Vodafone Group in July 2022. We continue to remain engaged with lenders and investors for further fund raising,” Takkar added.

Vodafone Idea’s capex spend for Q1FY23 was Rs 840 crore versus Rs 1,210 crore in Q4FY22.

“The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2022 stands at Rs 1.99 lakh crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1.1 lakh crore and AGR liability of Rs 67,270 crore that are due to the government, and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 15,200 crore. Cash and cash equivalents were Rs 860 crore and net debt stood at Rs 1.98 lakh crore,” Vodafone Idea in an exchange filing.

Vodafone Idea’s shares closed 3 per cent lower at Rs 9.11 on the BSE on Wednesday.

Snapshot

  • Revenue grew to Rs 10,410 crore, a QoQ growth of 1.7% (YoY growth of 13.7%)
  • ARPU for the quarter stands at Rs 128 vs Rs 104 in Q1FY22, up 23.4% YoY aided by tariff hikes
  • Ebitda (pre-IndAS116) improved to Rs 2,110 crore, vs Rs 1,970 crore in Q4FY22 (adjusted for one-offs)
  • Continued network capacity expansion supported by spectrum refarming and network upgrade to 4G
  • Vi GIGAnet is the fastest 4G network in India as per Opensignal’s April 2022 India Mobile Network Experience report
  • Vi continued to offer best voice quality as per TRAI “MyCall” app data for 17 out of 20 months between November 2020 and June 2022
  • Acquired 5G spectrum (Mid band – 3300 MHz) in our 17 priority circles, along with mmWave in 16 circles and 4G spectrum in 3 circles, in the recently concluded spectrum auction
  • With incremental preferential contribution of Rs 440 crore by Vodafone Group, Promoters infused Rs 4,940 billion between March 2022 and July 2022