Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd on Thursday (October 26) reported a net loss of ₹8,737.9 crore for the second quarter that ended September 30, 2023. In the corresponding quarter last year, Vodafone Idea posted a net loss of ₹7,595.5 crore, the company said in a regulatory filing.

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In the quarter, the total revenue stood at ₹10,716.3 crore, up 1% from ₹10,614.6 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding fiscal.

At the operating level, EBITDA grew 4.5% to ₹4,282.8 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal over ₹4,097.5 crore in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal.

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EBITDA margin stood at 40% in the reporting quarter as against 38.6% in the corresponding period in the previous fiscal. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation.

The average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to ₹142, up 2.1% quarter-on-quarter against ₹139 in Q1 of FY24, primarily aided by the migration of subscribers to higher ARPU plans. The company continues to see high data usage per broadband customer at 15.8 GB/month with the total data traffic for the quarter witnessing quarter-on-quarter growth of 2%.

The 4G subscriber base continued to grow for the ninth successive quarter and stood at 124.7 million as of September 30, 2023, vs 122.9 million in Q1FY24, an addition of 1.8 million 4G subscribers. With improving operations, the company has seen the lowest quarterly subscriber decline of 1.6 million since the merger. The overall subscriber base stood at 219.8 million.

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Further, depreciation and amortisation expenses and finance costs (net) for the quarter are ₹5,670 crore and₹6,530 crore respectively. Excluding the impact of Ind AS 116, depreciation and amortisation expenses and finance costs (net) for the quarter stood at ₹4,180 crore and ₹ 5,630 crore, respectively.

The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of September 30, 2023, stood at ₹2,12,780 crore comprising deferred spectrum payment obligations of ₹1,35,130 crore and AGR liability of ₹68,180 crore that are due to the government, debt from banks and financial institutions of ₹7,860 crore and Optionally Convertible Debentures amounting to ₹1,610 crore.

The net debt stood at ₹2,12,660 crore. The debt from banks and financial institutions has reduced by ₹7,220 crore during the last year (was at ₹15,080 crore in Q2FY23).

The results came after the close of the market hours. Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd ended at ₹10.73, down by ₹0.13, or 1.20%, on the BSE.

First Published:Oct 26, 2023 8:16 PM IST