Vodafone Idea Q1 loss marginally narrows to Rs 7,297 cr; ARPU rises 23%

Telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Wednesday reported its net loss marginally narrowed to Rs 7,297 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2022. It reported net loss of Rs 7,319 crore in the year-ago period. 

The company's revenue from operations rose 14% 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% aided 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 fund raising 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.”

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 trillion, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1.1 trillion 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 trillion," the telco said in a stock exchange filing. 

On Wednesday, the telco's scrip on BSE closed 3% lower at Rs 9.11.

 

"ARPU improved to Rs 128, up 3.6% QoQ vs Rs 124 in Q4FY22. On a YoY basis, ARPU witnessed strong growth of 23.4% aided by tariff hikes. The subscriber base declined to 240.4 million vs 243.8 million in Q4FY22. However, the 4G subscriber base continued to grow and with 1 million customers added in Q1, 4G base now stands at 119 million. Subscriber churn was marginally higher at 3.5% vs 3.4% in Q4FY22. We continue to see high data usage per 4G customer at 14.3 GB/month with the total data traffic witnessing healthy sequential growth of 3.6%," said VIL in an exchange filing.

"We actively participated in the spectrum auction to strengthen our pan-India 4G footprint and embark on our 5G roll-out journey in the country, in line with our long term vision. We have successfully acquired mid band 5G spectrum (3300 MHz band) in our 17 priority circles and mmWave 5G spectrum (26 GHz band) in 16 circles, which will enable us to offer superior 5G experience to our customers as well as strengthen our enterprise offerings and provide new opportunities for business growth in the emerging 5G era. We have also acquired additional 4G spectrum in 3 circles of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab. The total commitment for the spectrum acquired in this auction is Rs 18,800 crore, with annual instalment of Rs 1,680 crore," added VIL.