Vodafone Idea Q1 Results: Net Loss Widens To Rs 7,840 Crore; Promoter To Inject Rs 2,000 Crore Funds

Telecom services provider, Vodafone Idea reported a net loss of Rs 7,840 crore in the quarter ending June 30, 2023 (Q1FY24), widening from Rs 6,418.9 crore a year ago same quarter. Further, in the quarter, revenue picked up while operating profits declined. However, the company has revealed that the promoter group entity confirmed to inject up to Rs 2,000 crore in financial support. Vodafone Idea shares will be in focus ahead.

In the quarter, the company posted revenue of Rs 10,655.5 crore versus Rs 10,531.9 crore in Q1 of FY23. Also, EBITDA stood at Rs 4,157 crore in Q1FY24, slightly down from Rs 4,210.3 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Key highlights of the quarter are:

- The 4G subscriber base continued to grow for the eighth consecutive quarter and stood at 122.9 as of June 30, 2023 versus 122.6 million in Q4FY23. However, the overall subscriber base declined to 221.4 million versus 225.9 million in Q4FY23.

- ARPU improved to Rs 139, up 2.9% QoQ versus Rs 135 in Q4FY23 primarily aided by the migration of subscribers to higher ARPU plans.

- Vodafone Idea said that it continued to see high data usage per broadband customer at ~15.7 GB/month with the total data traffic for the quarter witnessing QoQ growth of 3.5%. A unique night data pack 'Chhota Hero' was launched to allow customers to snack on content during the night with unlimited data.

- Overall, the broadband site count stood at around 442,100 as of June 30, 2023, and during the quarter we added around 1,000 4G sites. To date, the company deployed ~74,800 TDD sites in addition to the deployment of ~13,800 Massive MIMO sites and ~13,100 small cells.

- Total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2023, stood at Rs 2,117.6 billion comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs. 1,337.4 billion and AGR liability of Rs 668.6 billion that are due to the Government, debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 95 billion and Optionally Convertible Debentures amounting to Rs 16.6 billion.

- With cash & cash equivalents of Rs 2.5 billion, the net debt stood at Rs. 2,115.1 billion. The debt from banks and financial institutions has reduced by Rs 57 billion during the last one year (Rs 152 billion in Q1FY23).

On the market performance, Akshaya Moondra, CEO, of Vodafone Idea said, "The eighth consecutive quarter of growth in average daily revenue, ARPU and 4G subscribers, clearly reflects our ability to effectively operate and compete in the market. Recently, we launched 'Vi One', a converged offering bundling mobility, broadband & content under a single plan bringing convenience and value to the consumers; an industry first in prepaid space."

Moondra added, "We remain engaged with our lenders for further debt fundraising as well as with other parties for equity or equity-linked fundraising, to make required investments for network expansion, including 5G rollout."

Further, in its exchange filing, Vodafone Idea said, "This is to inform that the Company has received a communication from a promoter group entity confirming that in the event of any fund requirement for meeting its impending payment obligations by the Company, it shall provide direct or indirect financial support to the extent of Rs 2,000 crore."

On BSE, the telco's share price ended at Rs 8.04 apiece, down 0.9% on Monday. The stock will react to Q1 results on Wednesday. Markets were shut on Tuesday due to holidays.