Vodafone Idea’s third quarter loss has grown
New Delhi:
Financially stressed telecommunications company Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) reported a consolidated loss of Rs 7,230.9 crore for the October-December 2021 quarter of the current fiscal.
The loss margin widened as the company recorded a loss of Rs 4,532.1 crore in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenue from operating activities fell 10.8% to Rs 9,717.3 from Rs 10,894.1 in the same period last year.
“We’re pleased to report second-quarter revenue growth thanks to a number of tariff interventions implemented over the past few months. Although total subscriptions have declined due to the tariff interventions, but 4G subscribers still recovered thanks to the advantage of data and voice experience provided by Vi GIGAnet,” VIL MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar said in a statement.
Its subscriber base fell to 24.72 crore from 26.98 crore in the same quarter a year ago due to the company tax hike.
“In November 2021, we increased the prepaid tax rate on all rates including unlimited plans as well as combo offers, moving the entry level prepaid plan to Rs 99.
“As a result, ARPU improved to Rs 115, up 5.2% quarter-on-quarter from Rs 109 in Q2 FY 2022. The subscriber base dropped to 247.2 million from 253.0 million in 2nd quarter of the current fiscal year, as this statement said.
Despite the tariff hike, average revenue per user (ARPU) for the reported quarter fell by around 5% from the Rs 121 it recorded in the same quarter of 2020-21.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents are at Rs 1,500 crore and net debt is Rs 1,97,480.
The heavily indebted company chose to pay a profit of around Rs 16,000 crore through preferred shares to the government. This would result in the government holding a 35.8% stake in the company.
