Vi net loss widens in FYQ3 to Rs 7990-cr, ARPU rises to Rs 135

Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Tuesday reported a net loss of Rs 7,990 crore for the third quarter that ended December 31, 2022. In the September quarter, the company posted a net loss of Rs 7,595.5 crore.

In the December quarter, total revenue stood at Rs 10,620.6 crore during the period under review, up 0.1 percent against Rs 10,614.6 crore in the September quarter.

At the operating level, EBITDA jumped 2 percent to Rs 4,180.8 crore in the December quarter of this fiscal over Rs 4,097.5 crore in the September quarter.

EBITDA margin stood at 39.4 percent in the December quarter as compared to 38.6 percent in the September quarter. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) for the quarter stood at Rs 135 as compared to Rs 131 in the second quarter of FY22.

Akshaya Moondra, CEO of Vodafone Idea, said the company has issued equity shares to the government of India recently, consequent to the conversion of the interest related to the deferment of spectrum and AGR dues into equity. Separately, our board has approved the issuance of Optionally Convertible Debentures amounting to Rs 16 billion to ATC India.

On a YoY basis, ARPU witnessed strong growth of 17.4 percent aided by tariff hikes and migration of subscribers to unlimited plans. The 4G subscriber base continued to grow and with 1 million 4G customers added in Q3, the 4G subscriber base now stands at 121.6 million, though the overall subscriber base declined to 228.6 million vs 234.4 million in Q2FY23.

The company continues to see high data usage per broadband customer at 15.1 GB/month with the total data traffic witnessing sequential growth of 0.8 percent. CNBCTV18