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Despite increasing tariffs and the financial support from the government, Vodafone Idea’s consolidated net loss widened to ₹7,231 crore in the December ended quarter of FY22 compared to a net loss of ₹4,532 crore in the same period last year. The company had posted a net loss of ₹7,132 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal.
The company’s consolidated revenue from operations also dipped to ₹9,717 crore against ₹10,894 crore year ago. However, there is a marginal increase in revenue when compared quarter on quarter (QoQ).
The average revenue per user (ARPU) has gone down to ₹115 a month compared to ₹121 a year ago. Subscriber churn has gone up from 3.4 per cent from 2.3 per cent which means there are more subscribers leaving the network. Average minutes of usage per user is down to 620 minutes compared to 673 minutes.
Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited, said, “We are pleased to announce second consecutive quarter of revenue growth driven by several tariff interventions taken in last few months. While the overall subscriber base has declined as a result of the tariff interventions, the 4G subscriber base remained resilient on the back of superior data and voice experience offered by Vi GIGAnet. We remain focused on executing our strategy to improve our competitive position and win in the marketplace. Separately, we have opted for upfront conversion of interest arising from deferment of spectrum and AGR dues into equity.”
The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of December 31, 2021 stands at ₹1.98 lakh crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of ₹1.11 lakh crore, AGR liability of ₹64,620 crore that are due to the government and debt from banks and financial institutions of ₹23,060 crore. Cash & cash equivalents were down to ₹1500 crore and net debt stood at ₹1.97 lakh crore.
The operator had increased the tariffs on entry level prepaid plans from ₹49 to ₹79. It also increased tariffs on certain postpaid plans across retail and enterprise segments during Q2 FY22.
In November 2021, the operator increased the prepaid tariffs across all price points. ARPU improved to ₹115, up 5.2 per cent QoQ against ₹109 in Q2 FY22.
The subscriber base declined to 247.2 million versus 253.0 million in Q2FY22. However, the 4G subscriber base continued to grow and with 0.8 million customers added in Q3, 4G base now stands at 117 million.
Data usage per 4G subscriber is now at 14 GB per month compared to 12 GB per month a year ago.
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