Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has announced its financial results for quarter ended (QE) June 31, 2022. The company’s revenue for the quarter stood at Rs 104.1 billion, witnessing a quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) improvement of 1.7 per cent and year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth of 13.7 per cent. However, the net loss for the reported quarter widened to Rs 72.96 billion sequentially from Rs 65.45 billion, owing to higher finance and operating costs amid continued subscriber losses.
Meanwhile, the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the reported quarter was reported to be Rs 43.3 billion. EBITDA excluding IndAS 116 impact improved to Rs 21.1 billion, compared to Rs 19.7 billion in the previous quarter (adjusting for one-off of Rs 1.5 billion) driven primarily by higher revenue.
Besides, the capital expenditure (capex) spend for the quarter was Rs 8.4 billion as compared to Rs 12.1 billion in the previous quarter. Also, the total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2022 stood at Rs 1.99 trillion, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1.16 trillion and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of Rs 672.7 billion that are due to the government, and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 152.0 billion. For the QE June 30, 2022, the cash and cash equivalents for the operator were Rs 8.6 billion and net debt stood at Rs 1.98 trillion.
During the quarter, Vi added 4G frequency division duplex (FDD) sites primarily through refarming of 2G/3G spectrum to expand 4G coverage and capacity as well as continued to upgrade its core and transmission network. The operator’s overall broadband site count stood at 454,727 as of June 30, 2022. The company has shut down approximately 3,100 3G sites during the quarter while adding over 2,600 4G sites. The average revenue per user (ARPU) for the operator improved to Rs 128, registering a growth of 3.6 per cent Q-o-Q and 23.4 per cent on Y-o-Y basis, aided by tariff hikes. The subscriber base of the telco declined to 240.4 million as compared to 243.8 million in the previous quarter. However, the 4G subscriber base for Vi continued to grow and with 1.0 million customers added in the reported quarter, 4G base now stands at 119.0 million.
Commenting on the results, Ravinder Takkar, managing director and chief executive officer, Vi, said, “We are pleased to announce fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth. We continue to witness 4G subscriber growth on the back of superior data and voice experience offered by Vi GIGAnet as well as due to our focus on creating differentiated digital experience for our customers. In the recently concluded spectrum auction, we have acquired sufficient spectrum in our key markets to offer superior 5G experience to our customers. We also completed the first tranche of fund raising in the form of preferential equity contribution of approximately Rs 49.4 billion from our promoters, including the incremental infusion of approximately Rs 4.4 billion by Vodafone Group in July 2022. We continue to remain engaged with lenders and investors for further fund raising.”
