Revenue from operations rose 2.7% to Rs 10,509.50 crore in Q4 FY23 as against Rs 10,234.60 crore in Q4 FY22, aided by improvement in subscriber mix and 4G subscriber additions.
On a reported basis, EBITDA for the quarter improved to Rs 4210 crore, up 0.7% as against Rs 4180.8 crore in Q3 FY23 and EBITDA margins were at 40%, higher than 39.4% in Q3 FY23.
EBITDA excluding IndAS116 impact, was up by 3.3% QoQ at Rs 2070 crore compared to Rs 2,000 crore in Q3FY23, primarily due to lower network expenses and lower customer acquisition cost partially offset by the increase in roaming and access charges.
ARPU (average revenue per user) improved to Rs 135, up 9.3% YoY vesus Rs 124 in Q4FY22 primarily aided by migration of subscribers to higher ARPU plans.
The 4G subscriber base continued to grow and with 1.1 million 4G customers addition in Q4, 4G subscriber base stood at 122.6 million. However, the overall subscriber base declined to 225.9 million vs 228.6 millionin Q3FY23. We continue to see high data usage per broadband customer at approximately 15.1 GB/month with the total data traffic for the quarter witnessing QoQ growth of 0.7%.
On full year basis, the company reported net loss of Rs 29,301.10 crore in FY23 as compared with net loss of Rs 28,245.40 crore in FY22. Revenue from operations jumped 9.5% year on year to Rs 42,142.60 crore in FY23 over FY22.
Akshaya Moondra, CEO, Vodafone Idea, said, “We are pleased to report annual revenue growth for the first time post –merger on the back of consistently improving performance for last several quarters.During the quarter, we have issued equity shares to the Government of India, against the loan representing the NPV of interest related to deferment of spectrum and AGR. We continue to remain engaged with our lenders for further debt fund raising as well as with other parties for equity or equity linked fund raising, to make required investments for network expansion, including 5G rollout.”
The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of 31 March 2023 stood at Rs 209.26 crore vs Rs. 222.89 crore as of 31 December 2022 due to conversion of debt representing NPV of interest arising due to deferment of spectrum instalments and AGR dues into equity issued to Government of India. It comprises of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs. 130.71 crore and AGR liability of Rs 65.55 crore that are due to the Government, debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 11.39 crore and optionally convertible debentures amounting to Rs 1.61 crore. With cash & cash equivalents of Rs 0.23 crore, the net debt stood at Rs 209.03 crore.
In line with the Reforms and Support Package for Telecom Sector communicated on 15 September 2021, Vodafone had opted for the upfront conversion of interest arising due to deferment of spectrum instalments and AGR dues into equity. On 3 February 2023, Ministry of Communications, GoI has passed an order directing the company to issue equity shares against the loan of Rs 16133 crore representing NPV of interest arising due to deferment. The board of the company has allotted 1613 billion equity shares of the face value of Rs. 10 each at an issue price of Rs. 10 each. With this issuance, the promoter shareholding stood at approximately 50% and GoI shareholding at around 33%.
Vodafone Idea is an Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group partnership. The company provides pan India Voice and Data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platforms. It holds large spectrum portfolio including mid band 5G spectrum in 17 circles and mmWave 5G spectrum in 16 circles.