Vodafone Idea posts quarterly loss of Rs 49 bn, says to raise $3.5 billion

India's telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd reported a second-quarter loss on Wednesday and said it is looking to raise about 250 billion rupees ($3.5 billion).

The company said its board is evaluating ways to raise the capital in which promoters Vodafone Group will chip in 110 billion rupees and Aditya Birla Group 72.5 billion rupees.

This is the first quarterly result since Vodafone Plc merged its Indian operations with Idea Cellular in August, creating the country's largest telecom operator by subscribers and revenue.
 

The company's after-tax loss was 49.74 billion rupees in the second quarter ended Sept. 30, which included a one-time charge of 5.66 billion rupees, mainly due to integration and merger related costs.

Revenue from operations was 76.64 billion rupees.
 

The results included numbers for Idea Cellular up to Aug.30 and Vodafone Idea from Aug.31 to Sept.30, and were not comparable to earlier periods, the company said in a statement.

India's telecom industry has been battered by a price war, sparked by the entry of billionaire Mukesh Amabani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Rival Bharti Airtel Ltd's second-quarter profit plunged over 65 percent.