Vodafone Idea Q1 loss narrows 43% to ₹3,754 cr; revenue, EBITDA rise
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Vodafone Idea Ltd reported a sharp narrowing in its consolidated net loss for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, helped by higher revenue and EBITDA, even as the telecom operator continues to carry a large deferred spectrum and AGR payment burden.
The company's consolidated net loss stood at ₹3,754 crore in Q1 FY27, compared with a loss of ₹6,608 crore in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations rose 6% year-on-year to ₹11,689 crore, while EBITDA increased 9.1% to ₹5,034 crore. EBITDA margin improved to 43.1% from 41.8%, an expansion of 122 basis points.
Operating performance improves
The improvement in profitability was accompanied by a recovery in key operating metrics. Vodafone Idea's customer base increased to 193.1 million, from 192.8 million in Q4 FY26, marking its first quarter of net subscriber addition since the merger.
Customer average revenue per user (ARPU) climbed 10.2% year-on-year to ₹195, from ₹177 a year earlier. The company said the increase was primarily supported by customer upgrades.
Its 4G/5G subscriber base rose to 130.1 million, compared with 127.4 million in Q1 FY26, while daily data usage jumped 27.9% to 88.4 petabytes from 69.1 petabytes.
CEO Abhijit Kishore said, “FY27 is the year of execution for us.” He added that the Q1 performance was a validation of the company's strategy, with investments delivering revenue growth and quarterly EBITDA crossing ₹5,000 crore.
5G expansion, funding plan gather pace
Vodafone Idea said 5G services are now available across more than 200 cities in the 17 circles where it holds 5G spectrum. It added over 15,600 unique broadband towers during the last 12 months, taking the total to nearly 205,000.
The company's 4G population coverage stood at 87%, with 39.4 million incremental population brought under coverage since Q1 FY26. It expects coverage across its 17 circles to exceed 95% with planned investments.
Vi has placed ₹9,000 crore of capex orders against its three-year capex guidance of ₹45,000 crore and said it has secured ₹6,400 crore of funding, including warrants and fund- and non-fund-based facilities.
Debt burden remains the key overhang
Despite the improvement, the balance sheet remains stretched. Vodafone Idea's net worth was negative ₹38,327 crore at the end of June. Its deferred payment obligations stood at ₹1,30,299 crore for spectrum and ₹25,759 crore towards AGR, with ₹9,259 crore of instalments scheduled through June 2027.
Interestingly, finance costs of ₹5,120 crore during the quarter exceeded the company's ₹5,034 crore EBITDA, implying the continuing pressure from its financing burden.
The reported loss was also aided by a ₹1,611-crore net exceptional gain, including a ₹1,816-crore gain from remeasurement of settlement assets, partly offset by a ₹205-crore provision towards regulatory matters.