Vodafone Idea reports consolidated loss of Rs 6,438.8 cr in Dec quarter

The quarterly results come as Vodafone Idea and other Indian telecom firms are pressured by government demands to pay $13 billion in overdue levies in a long-contested dispute

Vodafone Idea on Thursday reported widening of losses to Rs 6,438.8 crore in October-December 2019 against Rs 5,004.6 crore in the year-ago period as the AGR dues-hit telco reeled under the impact of increased finance costs and higher depreciation of assets.

Its total income fell by 5 per cent to Rs 11,380.5 crore in the third quarter of 2019-20 from Rs 11,982.8 cr in the year-ago quarter, according to a regulatory filing.

Finance costs of the company surged almost 30 per cent to Rs 3,722.2 crore, while depreciation went up by 23 per cent to Rs 5,877.4 crore.

Compared sequentially, the company's losses are substantially lower than Rs 50,922 crore suffered in the September quarter, when it made provisions for statutory dues following the Supreme Court's order in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter.

Ravinder Takkar, the MD and CEO of Vodafone Idea, said, "We continue to actively engage with the government seeking relief on the AGR and other matters. Post dismissal of our review petition, we have filed for modification of the supplementary order with Supreme Court".

He asserted that the company remains focused on rapid network integration as well as 4G coverage and capacity expansion in its key markets.

"...after several quarters of pressure on topline, we witnessed consistent revenue turnaround from September onwards i.e. before the recent price hikes. The tariff increase effective December should further help in improving revenue performance going forward. We are currently on track to deliver our opex synergy targets by Q1FY21," he said.

Vodafone Idea is staring at statutory dues of Rs 53,000 crore and the company has already warned of shutdown if no relief is given.