Tariff hikes in July last year have helped Vodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) to narrow its consolidated losses in the third quarter ended December 31 to ₹6,609.3 crore from ₹6,985.9 crore a year ago.
The company, in which the government of India holds a 22.60 per cent stake, had recorded a loss of ₹7,175.9 crore in the preceding three months.
While the numbers were announced after market hours, the VIL stock ended 3.29 per cent lower at ₹8.82 on the BSE.
VIL’s revenues from operations stood at ₹11,117.3 crore compared with ₹10,673.1 crore a year ago. Average revenue per user stood at ₹173, up from ₹166 in the July-September period on account of the tariff hikes. VIL, Airtel and Reliance Jio, had raised tariffs by up to 25 per cent.
Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra said the company is driving investments and the velocity of capex deployment is set to accelerate in the coming quarters. It has also started a phased rollout of 5G services in key geographies, he added.
“We are pleased to report the highest quarterly cash EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation) since merger of ₹2,450 crore, registering a year-on-year growth of about 15 per cent,” he said
