Vodafone Idea shares fall over 3% after Q4 results

Shares of Vodafone Idea Tuesday fell by over 3 per cent as the company's March 2019 quarter results failed to cheer investors.

The scrip declined 3.11 per cent to close at Rs 14 on the BSE. During the day, it dropped 9.68 per cent to Rs 13.05 -- its 52-week low.

At the NSE, shares went lower by 3.11 per cent to close at Rs 14.

In terms of traded volume, 126.96 lakh shares were traded on the BSE and over 24 crore shares on the NSE during the day.

The results were announced after market hours Monday.

Vodafone Idea Monday said its consolidated loss has narrowed sequentially to Rs 4,881.9 crore in March 2019 quarter, as strategic initiatives to improve revenue and average realisation from subscribers helped financials.

The loss has narrowed from Rs 5,004.6 crore during the third quarter of 2018-19, aided by 3.4 per cent drop in total expenses.

The books of Vodafone Idea recorded a comprehensive loss of Rs 962.2 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, but the year-on-year figure is not comparable as the merger between India unit of Vodafone Group and Idea Cellular was completed on August 31, 2018.

A Vodafone Idea statement highlighted that the company has seen a "sequential stabilisation of revenues in Q4" benefitting from the introduction of 'service validity vouchers' that require customers to make a minimum recharge of Rs 35.

"As expected, this resulted in a decline of 53.2 million subscribers as 'Incoming-only' or 'Low ARPU' customers migrated their spending from multiple SIMs to single SIM, taking the overall subscriber base to 334.1 million," the statement said.