Latest news with #VodafoneIdea
Hans India
10 hours ago
- Business
- Hans India
Vodafone Idea's net loss widens to Rs 7,166 crore in Q4, revenue slips
Mumbai: Vodafone Idea has reported a wider net loss of Rs 7,166.1 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31 (Q4 FY25), compared to a loss of Rs 6,609.3 crore in the previous quarter (Q3 FY25). This rise in losses comes despite some year-on-year improvement, as the loss had stood at Rs 7,674.6 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal (Q4 FY24), according to its stock exchange filing. The telecom company also saw a decline in its revenue from operations, which dropped slightly to Rs 11,013.5 crore in Q4 from Rs 11,117.3 crore in Q3 -- a decrease of around 0.93 per cent. Total income also slipped by about 1.22 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 11,228.3 crore. At the same time, total expenses rose to Rs 18,396.4 crore from Rs 17,973.6 crore in the previous quarter, reflecting a 2.35 per cent increase. While Vodafone Idea reported a year-on-year (YoY) revenue growth of 3.8 per cent in Q4, that was not enough to offset its rising costs and ongoing financial stress. The average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to Rs 175 in Q4 FY25 from Rs 153 in Q4 FY24, driven by tariff hikes and customer upgrades. The company's financial struggles remain deep. For the full fiscal year ended March 2025, Vodafone Idea reported a total loss of Rs 27,383.4 crore, and its net worth stood at a negative Rs 70,320.2 crore. The total outstanding debt continues to loom large. It owes Rs 2,345.1 crore to banks and has deferred spectrum and AGR-related payments of Rs 1.95 lakh crore, which will be due over the next two decades. Vodafone Idea's board has approved a fundraising plan of up to Rs 20,000 crore, subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, in an attempt to ease the burden. The company also said it remains in dialogue with the government for possible relief on its long-standing AGR dues, even after the Supreme Court recently dismissed a plea for waiver of interest and penalties. Despite these challenges, the company said it is preparing its financials on a going-concern basis, expressing hope that with government support, successful fundraising, and operational cash flow, it can continue its business in the coming year.
Economic Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Vodafone Idea approves Rs 20,000 cr fundraise plans in a fight for survival
Instruments on the table include equity shares, convertible bonds, Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), American Depository Receipts (ADRs), and non-convertible debentures with warrants, among others. Synopsis Vodafone Idea's board has approved raising up to Rs 20,000 crore through equity and debt to strengthen its financial position. The capital infusion aims to support operations, reduce liabilities, and facilitate network expansion, including the 5G rollout. Despite a reduced net loss year-over-year, subscriber churn continues to be a challenge for the telecom operator. Vodafone Idea, with the aim of bolstering its finances, has approved a fundraise of up to Rs 20,000 crore through a mix of equity and debt instruments. The move aims to provide the struggling telecom operator with much-needed capital to support its operations, reduce liabilities, and expand network capabilities. ADVERTISEMENT 'The Board of Directors of the Company at their meeting held today i.e. on 30 May 2025, inter-alia, have approved the following: by way of issue of equity shares or by way of issue of any other eligible instruments or securities including securities convertible into equity shares, Global Depository Receipts, American Depository Receipts or bonds including foreign currency convertible bonds, convertible debentures, warrants, non-convertible securities and/or composite issue of non-convertible debentures along with warrants, which may or may not be listed upto an aggregate amount of Rs. 20,000 crores,' the company said in its exchange filing. The fundraising could be carried out in one or more tranches via public offerings, private placements, or a combination of both. Instruments on the table include equity shares, convertible bonds, Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), American Depository Receipts (ADRs), and non-convertible debentures with warrants, among board has empowered its Capital Raising Committee to evaluate and decide the most suitable route for the capital decision comes at a time when the telco continues to face intense competition from peers Jio and Airtel and is in urgent need of capital to invest in its 5G rollout and network expansion plans. ADVERTISEMENT Also read: Ola Electric skids as widening losses dent sentiment The debt-ridden telco reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 7,166.1 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25, which is 6.6% lower from a net loss of Rs 7,674.59 crore reported in the same quarter last year. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, the company's revenue from operations grew 3.8% YoY to Rs 11,013.5 crore for the said quarter, up from Rs 10,606.8 crore in the year-ago sequentially, the company's net loss has widened from Rs 6,609 crore in Q3FY25. ADVERTISEMENT Amid increasing competition, Vodafone Idea continued to lose its JV of UK's Vodafone Group Plc and India's Aditya Birla Group was unable to arrest subscriber churn even as it commenced pan-India 5G rollouts this quarter, covering major markets like Mumbai and Delhi. In December, the subscriber base had fallen below the 200 million mark for the first time since its merger in 2019. ADVERTISEMENT In March, it further declined to 198.2 million. SR Batliboy and Associates, the auditors of Vi, cautioned that the operator's financial performance has impacted its ability to generate cash flows that it needs to settle/refinance its liabilities as they fall due. 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Mint
15 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Vi plans another Rs20,000 cr fundraise, remains hopeful of government support
Vodafone Idea Ltd's board approved raising another ₹ 20,000 crore through a further public offering (FPO), private placement, or other permissible mode to stay afloat, it said in an exchange filing on 30 May after reporting losses for another quarter amid never-ending financial troubles. India's third-largest telecom operator said it was confident of gaining government support, successfully arranging funding, and generating cash flow from operations, and announced that a Capital Raising Committee will evaluate and decide on the potential route of fundraising. The debt-laden company declared its March quarter results days after pleading before the Supreme Court for a waiver of massive government dues as banks refused it further loans. The court had rejected the plea. In the petition, the telco had said it would not be able to operate beyond the current fiscal year without bank funding, which remains elusive as lenders remain wary of its dues worth ₹ 84,000 crore linked to adjusted gross revenue (AGR). Before approaching the court, the company had submitted a similar representation to the government, seeking a waiver of interest, penalty, and interest on penalty on its AGR dues, which was not entertained. 'In the company's view, this dismissal does not preclude it from further engaging with the Government of India based on its foreseeable cash flows for arriving at an appropriate solution on the AGR matter before the next instalment date,' the telecom operator said in its financial statement. However, a government four-year moratorium on payments of AGR and spectrum dues for telecom companies, including Vodafone Idea, ends in September, making it even more difficult for the company. In the absence of any relief, starting 31 March 2026, it must pay an annual instalment of over ₹ 18,000 crore for the next six years towards AGR and spectrum dues to the government. In 2025-26 itself, it will have to pay ₹ 16,428 crore towards AGR dues and ₹ 2,539 crore towards deferred spectrum dues. Vodafone Idea said amounts pertaining to some of the years are subject to correction/revision due to the disposal of representations and any other outcome of litigation. The amounts will be finally determined by 31 December 2025 and are payable in six equal instalments after the moratorium period starts from 31 March 2026. But first, it desperately needs an operational turnaround. In line with the Street estimates, its net loss for the fourth quarter of 2024-25 widened sequentially to ₹ 7,166 crore from ₹ 6,609 crore. The same was ₹ 7,675 crore a year ago. The sequential rise in losses can be attributed to an increase in expenses, especially finance costs, which include interest payments on debt and other liabilities. Finance costs, accounting for 59% of its revenue from operations, rose 9% quarter-on-quarter and 3% year-on-year to ₹ 6,471 crore. An average of six brokerage firms' estimates had pegged losses at ₹ 7,162.5 crore. Its revenue from operations rose 4% on-year to ₹ 11,014 crore, in line with estimates, owing to improvement in its subscriber mix and an increase in postpaid users. The revenue, however, was down nearly 1% sequentially owing to continuous subscriber loss, largely in the lower-end segment. 'This has been a turnaround quarter for us, marked by the highest average daily revenue in the past five years and a significant reduction in subscriber loss,' said Akshaya Moondra, chief executive of Vodafone Idea. 'Early indicators show improvement across key business metrics and with our ongoing investments, we are well placed to effectively participate in the growth opportunity offered by the Industry,' Moondra said, adding that the company remains engaged with lenders to secure debt financing to support our broader capex plans of ₹ 50,000–55,000 crore. Owing to a rise in revenue on a year-on-year basis, Vodafone Idea's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 7.5% to ₹ 4,660 crore. On a quarterly basis, Ebitda fell 1.1% due to an increase in expenses and a decline in revenue from operations. Vodafone Idea declared its results late Friday night, after the bourses closed. Its shares closed 3.2% lower at ₹ 6.92 on BSE. Even as Vodafone Idea has been losing subscribers for a long time now, the company's subscriber churn rate has slowed down during the March quarter. Compared to the loss of 5 million subscribers each in the September and December quarters, its subscriber churn slowed down to 1.6 million in the fourth quarter. As of 31 March, it had 198.2 million mobile subscribers. Sequentially, its blended subscriber churn fell to 4.1% from 4.5%. The company's 4G/5G subscribers rose to 126.4 million from 126 million in the quarter-ago period. The company's postpaid subscribers were 25.6 million, up from 25.2 million in the preceding quarter and 23.9 million in the year-ago period. The telco has been improving its 4G services with network upgrades and has also started rolling out 5G, with Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Patna being the first circles. On 15 May, it launched 5G in Delhi and said it was targeting to expand the services in all 17 circles by August 2025. However, analysts at BofA Securities said in a 7 April note that VIL (Vodafone Idea) was still some point away from showing positive net adds. Its average revenue per user (Arpu), a key performance metric, rose marginally to ₹ 164 from ₹ 163 in the preceding quarter, in line with estimates. Two fewer days during the March quarter caused a largely flat Arpu, offsetting the company's improved subscriber mix. Further, the impact of the July tariff hikes also ebbed. In comparison, Airtel's India Arpu was flat at ₹ 245 in the quarter, whereas Reliance Jio's Arpu rose to ₹ 206.2 from ₹ 203.3 in the December quarter. Vodafone Idea has been grappling with huge dues. As of 31 March, its total government dues stood at around ₹ 2 trillion, including ₹ 1.19 trillion in spectrum dues and ₹ 83,400 crore AGR dues. Its outstanding debt from banks (including interest accrued but not due) was ₹ 2,345 crore. In March, the government offered another reprieve to the company by converting an additional ₹ 36,950 crore worth of statutory dues into equity. This was the second dues conversion that took the government's stake in Vodafone Idea to 49%. On 2 June, at the earnings call, analysts and investors will closely watch for the company's commentary on the AGR dues, any clarity from the government on possible relief, fundraising prospects, the company's sustainability post-2025-26, and future tariff hikes.
Time of India
16 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Vodafone Idea posts ₹7,166 crore loss in Q4FY25, plans ₹20,000 crore fundraise
Mumbai: The board of directors of Vodafone Idea on Friday approved raising up to ₹20,000 crore more even as its net loss for the March quarter widened sequentially to ₹7,166 crore from ₹6,609 crore and it continued to lose subscribers. Raising fresh funds will be critical to the telco's 4G and 5G expansion as it tries to stop user losses and turn around its business. The company said it would evaluate raising money by way of equity or debt or any other convertible instruments in one or more tranches. The JV of UK's Vodafone Group Plc and India's Aditya Birla Group was unable to arrest subscriber churn even as it commenced pan-India 5G rollouts this quarter covering major markets like Mumbai and Delhi. In December, subscriber base had fallen below the 200 million mark for the first time since its merger in 2019. In March, it further declined to 198.2 million. SR Batliboy and Associates, the auditors of Vi, cautioned that the operator's financial performance has impacted its ability to generate cash flows that it needs to settle/refinance its liabilities as they fall due. 'The group's ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on support from the DoT on the AGR (adjusted gross revenue) matter, successfully arranging funding and generation of cash flow from its operations that it needs to settle its liabilities as they fall due,' the auditor said. But the top management was upbeat about the results, pointing out that the pace of subscriber losses had slowed and the average revenue per user (ARPU) improved. 'Early indicators show improvement across key business metrics and with our ongoing investments, we are well placed to effectively participate in the growth opportunity offered by the Industry,' Akshaya Moondra, chief executive of Vodafone Idea , said in an earnings statement late on Friday. Vi commenced 5G services in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Patna this quarter, and plans to extend coverage to all 17 circles where it holds 5G airwaves by August 2025. However, the widespread 5G rollouts by larger rivals Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have made it challenging for Vi to catch up in terms of market penetration, user adoption, and overall perception. The telco's ARPU — a key performance metric — grew marginally to ₹164 in the March quarter, from ₹163 in the preceding quarter, as the residual flow-through of headline rate hikes in July 2024 was mostly absorbed by now. Quarterly revenue grew 0.9% quarter-on-quarter to ₹11,014 crore. 'This has been a turnaround quarter for us, marked by the highest average daily revenue in the past five years and a significant reduction in subscriber loss,' Moondra said. The telco lost 1.6 million subscribers in the January-March period compared with 5.2 million in the previous three-month period. Its net debt reduced substantially to ₹1.97 lakh crore as on March 31, from ₹2.29 lakh crore in the previous quarter, as the Government of India converted AGR-related dues to equity share in the company. Of this, Vi's bank debt stood at ₹2,345 crore and payment towards spectrum obligations plus AGR totalled ₹1.95 lakh crore at March-end. The firm's stock fell 3.22% before closing at ₹6.92 per share on BSE Friday. Results were declared after market closing. Prior to the merger on August 31, 2018, Vodafone India had 204.68 million subscribers and Idea Cellular had 190.51 million subscribers. However, with the telco incurring losses since the merger and weak cash position due to piling debt meant it wasn't able to invest adequately in expanding 4G network and start 5G rollouts, leading to rapid user losses, analysts said. Vi ended the March quarter with 198.2 million users, falling from 199.2 million in the December quarter. Its 4G subscribers base grew a tad to 126.4 million as of March-end from 126 million as of December-end. Having already raised equity funding of about ₹24,000 crore, the cash-strapped telco is also in talks with a consortium of banks to raise up to ₹25,000 crore and additional non-fund-based facilities of up to ₹10,000 crore, the company had said previously. 'We remain engaged with lenders to secure debt financing to support our broader capex plans of ₹50,000–55,000 crore,' Moondra added.
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Vi loss narrows, gets approval to raise Rs 20,000 crore
Photo/Agencies NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea on Friday reported a loss of Rs 7,166 crore for the fourth quarter of the last fiscal, against Rs 7,675 crore in the same period of 2023-24. The company's board also approved raising of Rs 20,000 crore to fund expansion. The company, reeling under a debt pile of over Rs 2 lakh crore, reported a revenue of Rs 11,014 crore in Q4 FY25 against Rs 10,609 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. "Subject to the approval of shareholders' and / or other requisite regulatory, raising of funds in one or more tranches, either by way of FPO or private placement or through any other mode..., which may or may not be listed up to amount of Rs 20,000 crore," it said. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
