Vodafone Idea shares open 1% higher as Q3 net loss narrows to ₹5,286 crore, ARPU jumps 7.3% YoY

Shares of the third largest telecom player, Vodafone Idea opened 1% higher on Wednesday morning, after the company announced its Q3FY26 earnings on Tuesday overnight. The company’s net loss for the quarter narrowed down to ₹5,286 crore in the quarter ending December 2025. The shares traded at ₹9.9 per share on the NSE at 9:15 am on Wednesday.

The Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Monday said its consolidated net loss narrowed to ₹5,286 crore in the third quarter ended December 2025 vs 6,609 crore in the same period last year. The improvement is mainly on account of service upgrades by customers.

The company's subscriber base declined by 3.4% on a YoY basis to 19.29 crore from 19.98 crore. However, Vi saw an increase in postpaid and 4G/5G subscribers. The company's postpaid subscriber base increased by 14.2 per cent to 2.88 crore from 2.52 crore a year ago. The 4G and 5G subscriber base increased to 12.85 crore from 12.6 crore on a YoY basis.

Vi said its user revenue or ARPU (average revenue per user) rose 7.3% year-on-year to ₹186 in the reported quarter from ₹173 in the quarter ended December 2024, mainly due to customer upgrades.

Consolidated revenue from operations remained almost flat at ₹11,323 crore during the latest third quarter compared to ₹11,117 crore a year ago.During the quarter, the company received a relief from the government leading to freezing of its adjusted gross revenue liability at ₹87,695 crore, which will also be reassessed. It was also able to raise ₹3,300 crore through debt bonds through a subsidiary, and plans to utilise the fund for capex.

"This quarter marked an important inflection point for the company with positive resolution of key legacy issues. We are thankful to the government for offering a definitive, long-term and conclusive solution on the AGR matter. One of the key milestones for the quarter was the successful NCD raise of ₹3,300 crore, despite an AGR overhang," Vodafone Idea CEO Abhijit Kishore said.

The company's capex for the quarter and for nine months ended December 2025 stood at ₹2,252 crore and ₹6,448 crore, respectively. The company also settled the CLAM (Contingent Liability Application Mechanism) receivable of ₹6,394 crore with the Vodafone Group.

Average data usage on Vi network per user increased to 19.2 GB during the reported quarter from 15.16 GB recorded in December 2024 quarter. "4G/5G subscriber base of 128.5 million vs 126.0 million in the third quarter of financial year 2035," the company said.

The total debt of the company stood at ₹2.09 lakh crore, comprising ₹4,424 crore outstanding debt from banks, ₹1.24 lakh crore deferred payment obligation for spectrum and ₹80,502 crore towards adjusted gross revenue dues. The Group has incurred a loss of ₹17,418 crore during the nine months ended December 2025, and its net worth stood at negative ₹87,744 crore.