Vodafone Idea share price gained over 2% in early morning deals on Friday after the company reported narrowing of its net loss for the quarter ended March 2023. The stock price rose as much as 2.71% to ₹7.18 apiece on the BSE.
The telecom operator posted a net loss of ₹6,418.9 crore in Q4FY23, down from a loss of ₹6,563 crore in the corresponding period last year.
The company’s revenue from operations during the quarter rose 3% to ₹10,532 crore from ₹10,239 crore, YoY, supported by subscriber mix and 4G subscriber additions.
Vodafone Idea’s average revenue per user (ARPU) improved to ₹135 from ₹124 a year ago led by the migration of subscribers to higher ARPU plans.
On the operating front, the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) in Q4FY23 decreased to ₹4,210 crore from ₹4,649 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.
Brokerage firm ICICI Direct believes Vodafone Idea’s Q4FY23 performance was weak with muted ARPU and losses and the company remains the weakest private telecom operator in the country.
The need for capitalisation is urgent mainly due to its upcoming debt repayment requirement, lagging spends on network and continued relative market share loss. The delay in 5G launch could further lead to elevated churn in high ARPU and postpaid customer, it said.
“We highlight that recent government relief measures (including moratorium conversion of interest on AGR dues) has not meaningfully altered future growth outlook which remains gloomy,” ICICI Direct said.
