Vi Q2 results: Net loss narrows to Rs.7,175 crores, Arpu at Rs 156

4G subscriber base falls after 11 quarters, overall user base shrinks 5 million

Debt-ridden telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 7,175.9 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY25), weighed down by a shrinking user base.

 

The company posted a loss of Rs 8,737 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY24.

 

On a sequential basis however, the firm's net loss was 11.5 per cent higher than the Rs 6,432 crore loss reported in Q1.

 

Q2 was the second consecutive quarter where the financially beleaguered telco managed to cut its headline loss figures.

 

This was mostly due to its tax expenses steeply falling to Rs 7.8 crore in Q2, down from Rs 817.7 crore in Q2FY24.

 

 

Lower interest and financing costs also helped the company. These costs shrunk to Rs 6,313 crore in this quarter, down 3.38 per cent from Rs 6,534 crore in the same quarter during the previous year.

 

Meanwhile, the telco's revenue from operations rose by just 2 per cent in the latest quarter, coming in at Rs 10,932 crore, down from Rs 10,716 crore in Q2FY24.

 

The average blended revenue per user (Arpu), a key performance metric for telecom firms, rose to Rs 156 in Q2, after remaining stagnant at Rs 146 for the preceding two quarters.

 

As a result of the hike in tariffs by private telcos Reliance Jio, Bharti AIrtel and Vi in July, the Arpu shot up by 6.84 per cent sequentially. On a Y-o-Y basis, Arpu was up 9.8 per cent.

 

Despite adding a record Rs 42,000 4G sites in Q2, the company's 4G subscriber base was impacted by the tariff hikes, shrinking by 0.8 million to 125.9 million in Q2. Before this, Vi had recorded 11 straight-quarters of 4G subscriber additions. 

 

"Immediately post the fund raise, we executed quick and impactful capex resulting in an increase of our 4G data capacity by 14 percent and 4G population coverage by 22 million, reaching to 1.05 billion at the end of September vs 1.03 billion in March, 2024," the company said.

 

Overall, Vi continued to lose customers, ending Q2 with 5 million fewer subscribers. This is double the 2.5 million subscriber loss registered in the preceding quarter. As a result, the rate of churn rose to 4.5 per cent.

 

The total payment obligations to the government stood at Rs 2.12 trillion at the end of Q2, including deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 1.41 trillion.

 

The company also had an adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liability of Rs 70,320 crore that it owed to the government. In a major respite for the telco, the debt from banks and financial institutions reduced to Rs 3,250 crore in Q2, down from Rs 7,830 crore a year ago.

 

Vi has shut down 19,700 3G sites across circles, and currently has 3G sites in 8 circles.