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Revenue for the October-December period was flat sequentially at Rs 10,620.6 crore as the effects of tariff hikes in late 2021 tapered off.
On-year, revenue was up 9.3%, helped by “improving subscriber mix, tariff interventions (of late 2021) and 4G<\/a> subscriber additions,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Vi marginally beat analyst forecasts of Rs 10,615.3 crore in revenue, though net loss came in higher than the estimated Rs 7,631.6 crore.
The cash-strapped telco’s average revenue per user (ARPU<\/a>), an important performance metric for telcos, was up 3.3% sequentially at Rs 135.
“We are pleased to report sixth consecutive quarter of revenue growth and 4G<\/a> subscriber addition on the back of superior data and voice experience…We have issued equity shares to the Government of India recently, consequent to conversion of the interest related to deferment of spectrum and AGR dues into equity,” Vodafone Idea<\/a> chief executive Akshaya Moondra said in the statement.
With the equity conversion as well as conversion of warrants issued to promoters in July 2022 worth Rs 436.2 crore into equity on Tuesday, co-founders – UK’s Vodafone Group and India’s Aditya Birla Group (ABG) – will hold around 50% stake in the loss-making telecom carrier.
The government will be the single largest shareholder with a 33.1% stake, with the British company holding around 32% and the Indian conglomerate roughly 18%.
The beleaguered telco, which was allowed to defer adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related dues by four years, reiterated that its continuance as a going concern depended on raising additional funds as required, successful talks with lenders and vendors “for continued support” and its ability to generate cash flow from operations to settle its liabilities as they fall due.
Vi’s board has cleared an issue of optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (ATC) to raise Rs 1,600 crore. This will be used to pay ATC’s dues and for general corporate purposes.
“With these positive developments, we continue to remain engaged with our lenders for further debt fund raising as well as with other parties for equity or equity-linked fund raising, to make required investments for network expansion and 5G rollout,” Moondra said.
The telco added that the ATC deal reflects the US firm’s confidence in the company and its plans which will facilitate further capital raise by the company.
Vi lost 5.8 million subscribers in the fiscal third quarter versus 6 million in Q2, ending December with 228.6 million users, ceding more ground to rivals Reliance Jio<\/a> and Bharti Airtel<\/a>, both of whom added users.
Vodafone Idea added one million 4G users to end the quarter with 121.6 million, which pushed average data usage marginally up to 15.1 GB from 15 GB in the previous quarter.
“This is essentially the point of no return for Vodafone Idea in terms of fund raise. If it hopes to protect its post-paid share in metros, it needs to roll out 5G at the earliest, for which it requires capex,” an analyst with a Mumbai-based brokerage said.