Vodafone Idea Q3 loss narrows to Rs 4,532 crore – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea on Saturday reported narrowing of consolidated loss to Rs 4,532.1 crore within the third quarter ended on December 31, 2020, primarily on account of a one-time acquire from stake sale in Indus Towers.
The firm had posted a loss of Rs 6,438.8 crore in the identical quarter a 12 months in the past.
Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) offered 11.15 per cent stake in Indus Towers on the completion of its merger with Bharti Infratel for Rs 3,760 crore and paid Rs 2,400 crore to the merged entity as per its settlement in the course of the reported quarter.
“In the third quarter of the financial year 2021, we improved subscriber retention and operating performance, supported by Vi GIGAnet. We remain focused on executing our strategy, and our cost optimization plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings,” Vodafone Idea MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar stated in a press release.
Revenue from operations of the corporate declined by 1.7 per cent to Rs 10,894 crore in the course of the reported quarter from Rs 11,089.4 crore in the identical quarter a 12 months in the past.
“The Board has approved fundraising to support our strategic intent and we are in active discussions with potential investors,” Takkar stated.
The VIL board accredited elevating up to Rs 25,000 crore by way of a combination of debt and fairness.
VIL claimed that gross addition of the subscribers have been improved and proportion of clients leaving its community has come down to 2.3 per cent within the third quarter in contrast to 2.6 per cent churn within the earlier quarter.
The subscriber base of the corporate, nevertheless, fell by about 11 per cent to 26.98 crores within the reported quarter from 30.4 crores on a 12 months-on-12 months foundation.
The common income per consumer (ARPU) of the corporate improved to Rs 121 from Rs 119 on 1 / 4 on quarter foundation, VIL stated.
VIL stated that it has been in a position to obtain operational synergies of round Rs 8,400 crore from the merger of Vodafone and Idea and is aiming to obtain an annualised value saving of Rs 4,000 crore in 2021.
During the quarter, the corporate added round 12,000 cellular websites for 4G companies primarily by deploying 4G know-how within the spectrum that was in use for 2G and 3G companies.
“Our overall broadband site count stood at 4,47,936 as of third quarter of FY’21, lower compared to 4,57,386 in second quarter of FY’21, as we have aggressively started to refarm our 3G sites to 4G. Our 4G network covers over 1 billion Indians as of December 31, 2020,” the corporate stated.
The capital expenditure of VIL decreased to Rs 970 crore in the course of the reported quarter from Rs 1,040 crore within the earlier quarter.
The gross debt on the corporate was Rs 1,17,370 crore comprising deferred spectrum cost obligations to the federal government of Rs 94,200 crore and debt from banks and monetary establishments of Rs 23,170 crore.