VI Says Loss Narrows In Q4 To Rs 7,166.1 Crore, Revenue Climbs 4 Per Cent

Debt-ridden telco Vodafone Idea on Friday reported narrowing of losses for the March quarter to Rs 7,166.1 crore and its board greenlit fundraising of upto Rs 20,000 crore subject to shareholders' approval and statutory nods.

The troubled telco said that recent dismissal of its plea on AGR dues relief by the Supreme Court does not preclude it from further engaging with the government based on its foreseeable cash flows to arrive at an appropriate solution on this issue.

The revenue for the fourth quarter (Q4FY25) rose 3.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 11,013.5 crore. The Q4 losses narrowed to Rs 7,166.1 crore for the just-ended quarter, from Rs 7,674.6 crore a year ago. The average revenue per user (ARPU) -- a key monitorable for telecom companies -- stood at Rs 175 for the quarter against Rs 153 in Q4FY24, the year on year growth of 14.2 per cent was driven by tariff hike and customer upgrades, the company said in its earnings release.

"The group has incurred a loss of Rs 273,834 million for the year ended March 31, 2025 and net worth stands at negative Rs 703,202 million (Rs 70,320.2 crore) at that date," Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) said in the footnotes to the consolidated financial statement.

As of March 2025, the group's outstanding debt from banks (including interest accrued but not due) is Rs 2345.1 crore and deferred payment obligation towards Spectrum which is payable over the years till FY 2044 and towards AGR which is payable over the years till FY 2031 adds up to Rs 1,94,910.6 crore.

"The group's ability to settle the above liabilities is dependent on further support from the DoT on the AGR matter, fund raise through equity and debt and generation of cash flow from operations. Based on current efforts. the Group believes that it would be able to get DoT support, successfully arrange funding and generate cash flow from operations," it said.

Accordingly, the consolidated financial results have been prepared on a going concern basis, VIL said.

It is pertinent to mention here that following the recent spectrum dues to equity conversion, Government's holding in the company has risen to 49 per cent from 22.6 per cent.

The promoter shareholding now stands at 25.6 per cent, and they continue to have operational control of the company.

For the full year FY25, the losses narrowed to Rs 27,383.4 crore against Rs 31,238.4 crore in the previous fiscal. The full year revenue rose 2.1 per cent to Rs 43,571.3 crore.

The company's board has approved the fundraising of upto Rs 20,000 crore, subject to nod from shareholders, regulatory/statutory approvals.

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The raising of funds in one or more tranches will be "either by way of further public offer or private placement (including qualified institutions placement) or through any other permissible mode and/or combination thereof as may be considered appropriate, by way of issue of equity shares or by way of issue of any other eligible instruments or securities including securities convertible into equity shares, Global Depository Receipts, American Depository Receipts or bonds including foreign currency convertible bonds, convertible debentures, warrants, non-convertible securities and/or composite issue of non-convertible debentures along with warrants..." The board has authorised the Capital Raising Committee to evaluate and decide the potential route of fund raising, including all related matters.

On the Q4 scorecard of the company, Akshaya Moondra, CEO, Vodafone Idea, said, "This has been a turnaround quarter for us, marked by the highest average daily revenue in the past 5 years and a significant reduction in subscriber loss. Early indicators show improvement across key business metrics and with our ongoing investments, we are well placed to effectively participate in the growth opportunity offered by the industry.

"We are also pleased to announce that our 5G services are now available in cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Chandigarh and Patna. Our expansion efforts are underway to offer 5G services in the key geographies of all 17 circles where we have 5G spectrum by August 2025. We also welcome the government’s decision for conversion of Rs. 369.5 billion spectrum dues to equity," he added.

He further informed that VIL remains engaged with lenders to secure debt financing to support its broader capex plans of Rs 50,000–55,000 crore.

It is pertinent to mention here that the embattled telecom operator had been seeking waiver of around Rs 30,000 crore AGR dues, as it struggles with statutory liabilities and dwindling subscriber base - as per the latest subscriber data by TRAI, the mobile customer base of VIL shrunk 6.47 lakh in April to 20.47 crore.

Earlier this month, Supreme Court dismissed its plea, dealing a big blow to crisis-ridden telecom operator.

Just weeks ago, VIL had sent an SOS to the telecom department stating that without the government's timely support on adjusted gross revenue or AGR, it will not be able to operate beyond FY26 as the bank funding discussions will not move forward.

In fact, the telco had shot off a letter to the telecom department on April 17, 2025, making a strong case for a lifeline, saying "no support will lead to a point of no return".

VIL, in its latest P&L statement (for Q4FY25) said that as on March 2025, assets include Rs 6393.9 crore, recoverable from promoters of erstwhile Vodafone India under the Implementation agreement (IA) executed on March 20, 2017.

"Under the IA, the company can claim the amounts should it discharge part of the AGR dues by June 30, 2025. However, considering the moratorium by Government, these amounts have not been paid by the company. Subsequent to the balance sheet date, the parties have agreed to extend the settlement date from June 30, 2025 to September 30, 2025. The company believes that it will be able to realise this asset," according to the P&L footnotes. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)

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