Vodafone Idea Narrows Q1 Loss To ₹3,754 Cr, Adds Subscribers For First Time Since Merger

Vodafone Idea's consolidated loss narrowed to ₹3,754 crore in the April-June quarter, the debt-laden telecom operator announced on Monday, sharply lower than the ₹6,608 crore loss it posted a year earlier.

The company's revenue from operations climbed 6% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹11,689 crore.

The telco's EBITDA rose 9% from a year ago to ₹5,034 crore, against ₹4,612 crore in the same period last year. Its EBITDA margin came in at 43.1%, an improvement over the 41.8% recorded in the year-ago quarter and steady compared to the previous quarter's 43.1%.

Vodafone Idea closed the quarter with 193.1 million customers, up from 192.8 million three months earlier, a milestone the company flagged as its first instance of net subscriber growth since Vodafone and Idea merged operations.

Monetisation per customer also improved, with ARPU climbing to ₹195 from ₹177 a year ago, a jump of 10.2%. According to the company, this was the strongest ARPU growth posted by any player in the sector during the quarter.

The operator's combined 4G and 5G user base grew to 130.1 million, up from 127.4 million in the year-ago period. Vi's 5G network has now reached over 200 cities and towns across India, while its 4G coverage extends to 87% of the population, the company said.

Vodafone Idea said accelerating its network rollout remains a priority, and it has placed new equipment orders with vendors including Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung. The company spent ₹1,930 crore on capital expenditure during the quarter. Of its three-year capex guidance of ₹45,000 crore, orders worth ₹9,000 crore have already been placed, it said.

Bank debt stood at ₹211 crore as of the end of June 2026. The company's cash and bank balances totalled ₹6,558 crore, boosted partly by proceeds from a warrant issue completed during the quarter. Vodafone Idea said it has lined up ₹6,400 crore in funding so far, spanning warrants and both fund-based and non-fund-based facilities, and that talks with lenders to finalise the rest of its funding plan are ongoing.

CEO Abhijit Kishore described FY27 as a year focused on execution. "Our robust Q1FY27 performance is a strong validation of our defined strategy and disciplined execution," he said.

He added that the company had met every key business metric it tracks during the quarter, including subscriber addition, calling it the first such gain since the merger and pledging continued momentum on this front.

Kishore said the company's ongoing conversations with its lenders give it confidence that debt-related negotiations will be resolved successfully.