The telecom operator’s consolidated revenue from operations rose nearly 3 per cent sequentially to Rs. 9,406.4 crore for the reported quarter, which was sharply above analysts’ expectations.
The company reported a strong operating performance for the reported quarter as consolidated operating profit rose 4.2 per cent sequentially to Rs 3,862.9 crore. The company also managed to expand its consolidated margins 60 basis points quarter-on-quarter to 41.1 per cent.
The strong operating performance was aided by stellar growth in average revenue per user for Vodafone Idea suggesting that the company is seeing the first signs of a turnaround in its operations. Vodafone Idea’s ARPU jumped 4.8 per cent on-quarter to Rs. 109 in the quarter ended September.
However, the subscriber base of the company at the end of the quarter stood at 253 million as against 255.4 million in the previous quarter. Blended churn in the subscriber base, however, reduced to 2.9 per cent from a more than four-quarter high of 3.5 per cent seen in the June quarter.
“This quarter we had taken certain pricing initiatives to improve ARPU, in line with our stated strategy. We increased the entry-level prepaid pricing plan from Rs 49 to Rs 79, in a phased manner, as well as increased the tariffs in some postpaid plans,” Vodafone Idea said.
Vodafone Idea’s 4G subscriber base in the quarter rose to 116.2 million from 112.9 million in the previous quarter. The company said that the reopening of the economy aided the growth in the topline while it saw an increase in the cost of customer acquisition.
The telecom major said that its gross debt at the end of the quarter stood at Rs. 1.9 lakh crore of which Rs. 1.1 lakh crore was deferred spectrum fees to the government.
Shares of Vodafone Idea ended 4.1 per cent higher at Rs. 10.25 on the National Stock Exchange.
