Vodafone Idea Q3 Results: Loss Narrows To Rs 6,609 Crore, ARPU Rises

Vodafone Idea Ltd.'s consolidated net loss narrowed in the third quarter of financial year 2024-25.

The telecom firm posted a loss of Rs 6,609 crore in the October–December period in comparison to Rs 7,175.9 crore in the preceding quarter, according to an exchange filing on Tuesday. Analysts tracked by Bloomberg had a consensus estimate of Rs 6,890.3-crore loss.

• Revenue up 1.7% to Rs 11,117 crore versus Rs 10,932.3 crore (Bloomberg estimate: Rs 11,363.3 crore).

• Ebitda up 3.6% to Rs 4,712.4 crore versus Rs 4,549.9 crore (Estimate: Rs 4,808.4 crore).

• Margin expands to 42.4% versus 41.6% (Estimate: 42.3%).

• Net loss at Rs 6,609 crore versus loss of Rs 7,175.9 crore (Estimate: Loss of Rs 6,890.3 crore).

• Average revenue per user increased to Rs 173 from Rs 166.

VIL's capital expenditure for the December quarter stood at Rs 3,210 crore, it said. "The network rollout will accelerate further in Q4FY25 with the full-year expected capex of about Rs 10,000 crore."

The company has rapidly expanded its 4G coverage and capacity. "We are on track to achieve our 4G population coverage target of 110 crore by March 2025 and plan to further increase it to 120 crore i.e. 90% of population."

"During the quarter, we expanded our footprint to more than 4,000 unique broadband towers, the largest addition in a quarter by the company since merger," the management said. "We continued network enhancement by deploying 4G on sub GHz 900 band across 15,000 sites, offering increased coverage as well as superior indoor network experience."

VIL said the government's waiver of bank guarantees would make sure that telecom operators could use the banking system's exposure to help 4G and 5G networks spread even more in India.

"We are driving investments and the velocity of capex deployment is set to accelerate in the coming quarters," Chief Executive Officer Akshaya Moondra said. "Concurrently, the phased rollout of 5G services is underway, targeting key geographies."

"With the recent equity infusion of Rs 1,910 crore from one of our promoters, we have now secured approximately Rs 26,000 crore in fresh equity capital over the past 10 months," the CEO said.

VIL continues to engage with lenders for debt financing, aligning with its planned network-expansion investment of Rs 50,000–55,000 crore over a three-year period, according to Moondra. "The government's decision on the bank guarantee waiver underscores its ongoing support for the telecom sector — a critical pillar of Digital India's future."

Shares of VIL closed 3.29% lower at Rs 8.82 apiece on the BSE before the quarterly results were declared, compared to a 1.32% decline in the benchmark Sensex.