Vodafone Idea’s loss in the third quarter has increased
New Delhi:
The financially stressed telecom company Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) reported a consolidated loss of Rs 7,230.9 crore during the October-December 2021 quarter of the current fiscal year.
The loss margin has widened as the company recorded a loss of Rs 4,532.1 crore during the corresponding period of last year.
Consolidated operating income fell by 10.8 percent to Rs 9,717.3 crore from Rs 10,894.1 crore in the same period a year ago.
“We are pleased to announce the second consecutive quarter of revenue growth, driven by several tariff interventions taken in recent months. While the overall subscriber base has declined as a result of the tariff interventions, the 4G subscriber base has remained resilient thanks to superior data and voice experience offered by Vi GIGAnet,” VIL MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar said in a statement.
The subscriber base dropped to 24.72 crore from 26.98 crore in the same quarter a year ago due to rate hikes by the company.
“In November 2021, we increased prepaid rates across all price points, including unlimited plans and combo vouchers, moving the entry-level prepaid plan to Rs 99.
As a result, ARPU improved to Rs 115, up 5.2 percent from quarter-over-quarter versus Rs 109 in the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The subscriber base declined to 247.2 million from 253.0 million in the second quarter of the current fiscal year, because of these tariff interventions,” the statement said.
Despite tariff increases, average revenue per user (ARPU) fell by about 5 percent during the reported quarter compared to Rs 121 it recorded in the same quarter of 2020-21.
The company’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to Rs 1,500 crore and its net debt amounted to Rs 1,97,480 crore.
The debt-ridden company has chosen to pay interest of around Rs 16,000 crore through preferred stock to the government. This will result in the government holding a 35.8 percent stake in the company.
