Vodafone Idea Q1 net loss widens to ₹6,608 crore, revenue rises 5%

Vodafone Idea, the country's third largest telecom service provider, on Thursday, August 14, reported that its net loss in the first quarter of current financial year (Q1FY26) widened to ₹6,608 crore from loss of ₹6,432 crore in the same period last year. On a sequential basis, however, its loss narrowed from ₹7,166 crore in the previous quarter.

Vodafone Idea's revenue from operations rose 5% annually in April-June period to ₹11,008 crore from ₹10,487 crore in the year-ago period.

During the quarter, Vodafone Idea launched 5G services in 22 cities across 13 circles. The company's average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric of telecom firm's profitability, improved to ₹177 per month as against ₹154 in Q1FY25.

Vodafone Idea's 4G/5G subscriber base increased to 127.4 million from 126.7 million in the corresponding period last year.

Vodafone Idea's debt from banks reduced to ₹1,930 crore and it entered into a strategic partnership with AST SpaceMobile to bring direct-to-device satellite broadband connectivity in the remote areas where there are no terrestrial networks.

“This has been a decisive turnaround quarter. The investments made over the past three quarters to expand our 4G coverage have started yielding results, as reflected in the 90% lower subscriber loss compared to Q2 and Q3 of last financial year, being the lowest subscriber decline since merger," said Akshaya Moondra, CEO, Vodafone Idea.

"Our 5G services are now operational in 22 cities across 13 circles and we are committed to systematically expanding our 5G footprint, in line with growing 5G handset adoption. We are encouraged by the momentum across our core business metrics. Data consumption has hit a record high driven by the success of our SuperHero and Non-stop SuperHero plans. With a solid foundation in place, we are well positioned to seize emerging growth opportunities in the industry. We continue to invest in capex and to support our broader capex plans of Rs. 500–550 billion, we remain engaged with lenders to secure debt financing,” Monndra added.

Vodafone Idea added 4,800 new unique 4G towers during the quarter and it strengthened its sub-GHz 900 MHz spectrum in the 16 circles, complemented by the deployment of 9,200 sites.

"In another industry first, we have become the first operator to launch a feature that displays the country of origin for incoming international calls. This feature further enhances our users' safety by empowering them to make informed choices before accepting calls. This is also a protection against cyber frauds which are on the rise," Vodafone Idea said.

Vodafone Idea shares ended 3.45% lower at ₹6.15 ahead of its earnings announcement.