Vodafone Idea Q2 FY25 results: Net loss narrows to Rs 7,176 crore YoY; revenue up 2%

Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) on Wednesday posted a narrower year-on-year (YoY) consolidated net loss in the September 2024 quarter (Q2 FY25). During the quarter under review, VIL's loss came at Rs 7,175.9 crore as against Rs 8,737.9 crore in the year-ago period. However, the company's loss widened on a sequential (quarter-on-quarter) basis. It had posted a loss of Rs 6,432.1 crore in the previous quarter.

The telecom operator's revenue from operations in Q2 FY25 rose 2.02 per cent to Rs 10,932.2 crore from Rs 10,716.3 crore in the corresponding period last year.

The telco said EBITDA (operating profit) for the quarter was at Rs 4,550 crore. "Cash EBITDA excluding Ind AS 116 impact improved to Rs 2,320 crore, highest since merger," it added.

VIL's total subscriber base stood at 20.5 crore and 4G subscriber base came at 12.59 crore in Q2 FY25. The telco's ARPU, a key performance metric for telecom firms, was at Rs 166.

The firm has successfully raised a total of Rs 18,000 crore from its follow-on offering (FPO). Currently, it is planning to roll out its 5G services in select areas.

Akshaya Moondra, CEO at VIL, said, "We worked on closure of long-term capex contracts and recently awarded capex deals worth $3.6 billion to three global partners Nokia, Ericsson and Samsung for the supply of network equipment over next 3 years. On the debt raise, we remain engaged with our lenders for tying up debt funding towards the execution of our network expansion with planned capex of Rs 50,000 to 55,000 crore over next 3 years."

Commenting on the recent tariff hikes, Moondra stated that the impact of interventions can be seen in improved ARPUs and revenue for the quarter. "Though the full impact will be reflected over the next couple of quarters. Further tariff rationalization is needed for the industry to fully cover its cost of capital," he added.

Vodafone Idea was formed in 2018 when Vodafone Group merged its India business with Idea Cellular. As of April 23, 2024, promoters held a 36.87 per cent stake in the company.

The quarterly results were announced post-market hours today. Earlier in the day, VIL shares settled 3.91 per cent lower at Rs 7.37.