Subscriber retention helped Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) pared its consolidated net loss to ₹4,532.1 crores for the third quarter ended December 31, 2020, from a net loss of ₹6,438.8 crores recorded during the comparable year-ago period.
Shares of Vi have dipped by 2% to Rs 12.25.
The company had posted a net loss of ₹7,218.2 crores during the sequential second quarter ended September 30, 2020. During the quarter under review, VIL’s revenue on a consolidated basis fell to ₹10,894.1 crores from ₹11,089.4 crores recorded during the same year-ago period. However, revenue for the quarter improved from ₹10,791.2 crores supported by higher 4G additions, the company said in a statement.
Net sales during the quarter fell by 1.7% YoY to Rs 10,891.60 crores. The company recorded a net gain of Rs 1696.5 crores during the quarter on the sale of a stake in Indus Towers. The company recorded a pre-tax loss of Rs 4532.40 crores in Q3 December 2020 as compared to a pre-tax loss of Rs 6421.40 crores in Q3 December 2019. It incurred a current tax expense of Rs 0.20 crore during the quarter.
“In the third quarter of FY21, we improved subscriber retention and operating performance. We remain focused on executing our strategy, and our cost optimisation plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings. The board has approved fundraising to support our strategic intent and we are in active discussions with potential investors,” said VIL Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ravinder Takkar.
The subscriber base stood at 269.8 million in Q3FY21, a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline of 2.0 million (vs 8.1 million declines in Q2FY21). The gross additions continued to improve and subscriber churn has reduced to 2.3% in Q3FY21 as against 2.6% in Q2FY21). ARPU for Q3FY21 improved to Rs 121 compared to Rs 119 in Q2FY21.
The company had embarked on a cost optimisation exercise and is targeting to achieve Rs 4,000 crore of annualised cost savings by the end of this calendar year. Through several initiatives, VIL has already achieved about 50% of the targeted annualised savings on a run-rate basis by the end of Q3FY21.
At the end of the quarter, the 4G subscriber base was 109.7 million as against 106.1 million in Q2), an increase of 3.6 million in the quarter. The data volumes grew by 3.4% QoQ, driven by higher 4G additions. Total minutes on the network declined by 1.5% during the quarter compared to a 4.0% decline in Q2FY21.
The company expects to achieve Rs 40 billion of annualized cost savings by end of this calendar year. Through several initiatives, it has already achieved approximately 50% of the targeted annualised savings on a run-rate basis by the end of Q3FY21.
It has received board approval received for fundraising of up to Rs 250 billion through a mix of debt and equity and is currently inactive discussions with potential investors.
The company’s overall broadband site count stood at 4,47,936 as of December 2020, lower compared to 4,57,386 in the sequential second quarter, following the refarming of its 3G sites to 4G.
At the end of the quarter, the 4G subscriber base was 109.7 million (versus 106.1 million in Q2), an increase of 3.6 million in the quarter. The data volumes grew by 3.4% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, driven by higher 4G additions, it said.
Vodafone Idea is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. It is amongst India’s leading telecom service provider. The company provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platforms.
