Vodafone Idea’s average revenue per user (ARPU) per month came down to Rs 114 per month in June quarter.
Vodafone Idea shares fell as much as 7.39 per cent to hit an intraday low of ₹ 7.64 after the company informed exchange after market hours on Thursday that its net loss widened to ₹ 25,460 crore in quarter ended June 30 from loss of ₹ 4,874 crore in same quarter last year. The Mumbai-based telecom operator’s revenue from operations fell 8 per cent annually to ₹ 10,659.30 crore. Vodafone Idea said that during the quarter, it made a payment of ₹ 6,854.40 crore in three instalments to the government’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) towards adjusted gross revenue (AGR)-related dues.
The company also recognized an additional charge of ₹ 19,440.50 crore as exceptional item towards the total estimated liability based on the telecom department’s demand of ₹ 58,254 crore. Consequently, the company said, its net worth turned negative during the quarter (-Rs 19,491.80 crore), Vodafone Idea said.
Vodafone Idea’s operations were also adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic globally and in India is causing significant disturbance and a slowdown of economic activities,” Vodafone Idea said in a statement.
Vodafone Idea’s average revenue per user (ARPU) per month – a key measure of profitability for a telecom company – came down to ₹ 114 per month in the quarter ended June 30, from ₹ 121 per month in the year-ago period.
Gross debt (excluding lease liabilities) as of June 30, 2020 was ₹ 1,18,940 crore, including deferred spectrum payment obligations of ₹ 92,270 crore due to the government.
As of 10:53 am, Vodafone Idea shares traded 2.18 per cent lower at ₹ 8.09, underperforming the Sensex which was down 0.2 per cent.
