Vodafone Idea's Q1 consolidated net loss rises to Rs 25,460 cr

Mumbai

Vodafone Idea on Thursday reported a massive consolidated net loss of Rs 25,460 crore for the April-June quarter.

During the consolidated period of the last fiscal, the company had reported a net loss of Rs 4,573.9 crore.

The exceptional items, which added to the loss, include integration and merger-related cost, provisions, licence fees and SUC on AGR and one-time spectrum charges, including interest.

The telecom major reported a total income of Rs 10,714.6 crore during the period under review, compared to Rs 11,549.5 crore earned during the quarter ended June of FY 2019-20.

In a statement, the company said that it offered uninterrupted services to both retail and enterprise customers, despite operational headwinds during the unprecedented times of the pandemic.

"Revenue for the quarter declined by 9.3 per cent to Rs 106.6 billion, impacted by the nationwide lockdown," it said.

The company has taken up new cost optimisation initiatives to drive further organisational efficiency and targets to achieve Rs 4,000 crore annualised operational expenditure savings over next 18 months.

Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea, said: "During the nationwide lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic, our teams did a phenomenal job of providing seamless high quality services, keeping people and businesses connected during these unprecedented times. Q1FY21 was a challenging quarter as availability of recharges due to store closure and ability of customers to recharge on account of economic slowdown were impacted."

He added that 4G coverage and capacity expansion remains a priority for the company to further improve its customers' experience and it continues to lead in terms of 4G data download speeds across several states, metros and large cities.

"We continued to make progress on our strategy with integration largely complete, enabling us to realise cost synergies well ahead of our initial targets. We have launched a new cost optimisation initiative that will drive further cost savings. We also continue to actively engage with the government seeking a comprehensive relief package for the industry, which faces critical challenges," the CEO said.