Debt-laden Vodafone Idea Ltd (Vi) has pared consolidated net loss to ₹7,022.8 crore for the fourth-quarter ended March 31, 2021, from ₹11,643.5 crore recorded during the same period a year ago.
The telecom operator had recorded a net loss of ₹4,532.1 crore in the sequential third quarter ended December. During the quarter under review, Vi’s total income dipped to ₹9,647.8 crore from ₹ 11,920.4 crore recorded during the comparable year-ago quarter, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Vodafone Idea Ltd Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ravinder Takkar said: “FY21 has been a transformational year for Vodafone Idea with several important milestones achieved including launch of our unified brand Vi. In the year of the pandemic, when people and businesses were hugely dependent on telecom connectivity, we delivered superior network experience and improvement in several operating metrics supported by Vi GIGAnet, which remains the fastest 4G network in India.”
“We enter FY22 with renewed focus on executing our strategy to keep our customers ahead, and our cost optimisation plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings,” he added.
It also said there exists uncertainty relating to the group’s ability to continue as a going concern, which is dependent on its ability to raise additional funds, negotiations with lenders on continued support, refinancing of debts and monetisation of certain assets among others.
“We are in active discussion with potential investors for fund raising, to achieve our strategic intent,” Takkar added.
The group has incurred losses of ₹44,233.1 crore for the year ended March 31, 2021, and the networth is negative ₹38,228 crore. As of March 31, 2021, the total debt of the group stood at ₹1,86,705.5 crore.
The group has also written to DoT for deferment of the spectrum payment instalment of ₹8,211.7 crore payable as of April 9, 2022, it added.