[ad_1]
Vodafone Idea’s (Vi’s) losses narrowed substantially to ₹3,754 crore in the first quarter (April-June/Q1) of 2026-27 (FY27), compared with ₹6,608 crore in the same quarter of the previous financial year (2025-26/FY26), helped by an exceptional gain of ₹1,611 crore from the reassessment of the fair market value of equity shares owned by Vodafone Plc that are to accrue to the company over five years as part of a 2018 settlement.
A shift by more users to higher-value 4G and 5G services, leading to higher average revenue per user (Arpu), a key metric for the company, also helped narrow losses. Revenue from operations grew about 6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ₹11,689 crore from ₹11,023 crore. The earnings beat Bloomberg estimates, which had projected steeper losses and lower revenues.
The No. 3 carrier secured ₹6,400 crore through warrants, fund and non-fund-based facilities, it said in a statement. This is the first tranche of the ₹25,000-35,000 crore funding the company is seeking through funded and non-funded facilities, with discussions under way with banks. The company said it remained “engaged with lenders” to close the overall funding plan.
Vi Chief Executive Officer Abhijit Kishore said, “FY27 is the year of execution for us,” reiterating the road map laid out by Aditya Birla group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla in the company’s FY26 annual report. “Our on-ground execution intensity continues with capital expenditure orders worth ₹9,000 crore already placed. The ongoing conversation with the lenders gives us the confidence of successful closure of debt discussions. With all critical business parameters now moving in the right direction, our focus remains on execution and artificial intelligence-led transformation across the organisation,” Kishore said.
The ₹9,000-crore orders placed with Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung and other partners are part of the company’s planned ₹45,000-crore capex over three years beginning FY27. Kishore added that during the quarter, the company delivered on all the critical business parameters, including subscriber additions — the first since the merger — with 5G services live in more than 200 cities.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the quarter stood at ₹5,034 crore, an annual increase of 9.1 per cent. Customer Arpu increased to ₹195, up 10.2 per cent Y-o-Y, the highest growth in the industry. On an absolute basis, Vi lags its peers, with Bharti Airtel leading at ₹264 and Reliance Jio at ₹215.6, as of Q1FY27.
The telecommunications (telecom) company’s total subscriber base stood at 193.1 million, marking its first quarter of net subscriber additions since the merger in 2018. “We closed the quarter with 130.1 million 4G/5G subscribers, up from 127.4 million in the same period last year. Data usage improved from 69.1 petabytes (PB) per day to 88.4 PB per day, a Y-o-Y increase of 27.9 per cent,” Kishore added.
In the previous quarter, ended March 2026, the country’s third-largest private sector telecom services provider had recorded a net profit of ₹51,970 crore, following a one-time accounting gain of ₹58,116 crore arising from the government’s reduction in adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues and the valuation of future AGR payments. As of June 2026, the group’s networth stood at negative ₹38,327 crore, the company’s auditors said on Monday.
The company’s outstanding debt to banks as of June 2026 was ₹3,708 crore, with an instalment of ₹211 crore payable in June 2027. Deferred payment obligations towards spectrum stood at ₹1.3 trillion as of June 2026, while AGR dues stood at ₹25,759 crore. The instalments payable against these deferred payment obligations by June 2027 are scheduled at ₹9,259 crore, it added.
“As of date, the group has met all its debt obligations payable to its lenders/banks and financial institutions, along with applicable interest. The group is confident of generating sufficient cash flow from operations to meet its obligations, including spectrum and AGR dues payable over the next 12 months as and when they fall due,” the auditors said on Monday in a report accompanying the results.
[ad_2]
Source link