Vodafone Idea Q2 loss narrows to Rs 7,218 crore, to monetise its 11.15% stake in Indus

Debt-ridden telecom firm Vodafone Idea on Thursday reported a consolidated loss of Rs 7,218.2 crore in the second quarter of FY21. The company had posted a loss of Rs 50,897.9 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal on account of making provisions for statutory due payments.

Total income declined by about 3 percent to Rs 10,830.5 crore during the reported quarter, from Rs 11,146.4 crore in the corresponding period of 2019-20.

Vodafone Idea MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar said while challenges related to COVID-19 continue, the second quarter has shown signs of recovery with a gradual improvement in economic activities.

"We are executing on our strategy and our cost optimization exercise has already started to yield incremental savings. "We have also initiated a fund raising exercise to support our strategic intent. Further, we continue to interact with the government seeking long term solutions to the critical challenges, which the industry faces," Takkar said. The company reported decline in subscriber base to 27.18 crore in Q2 FY21, from 27.98 crore in Q1 FY21.

VIL will monetise its 11.15 percent stake in Indus on completion of the merger. The value of VIL’s 11.15 percent stake equals to a cash consideration of about Rs 3,800 crore (US$ 520 million) currently. The final determination will take place shortly before closing of the merger.

The company is currently evaluating various fund raising options. Capex spend in Q2FY21 of Rs 1,040 crore, improved compared to Rs 600 crore in Q1FY21. Net debt stood at Rs 1,14510 crore (vs Rs. 1,15,500 billion in Q1FY21).

Vodafone Idea's subscriber loss was steep at 8 million against Bharti Airtel's gain of 13.8 million subscriber QoQ.