Vi losses widens; COO Abhijit Kishore replaces Akshaya Moondra as CEO

New Delhi: Vodafone Idea reported a widening of its consolidated loss to Rs 6,608 crore in the first quarter ended June 30, 2025, mainly on account of an increase in finance cost and government levies.

The Vodafone Idea (VIL) board approved the elevation of Chief Operating Officer Abhijit Kishore to the position of Chief Executive Officer with effect from August 19. He replaces Akshaya Moondra, whose three-year tenure ends on August 18.

VIL's finance cost increased by about 7% or Rs 374 crore on a year-over-year (YoY) basis to Rs 5,892.8 crore from Rs 5,518.6 crore on a year-over-year basis, which added to the loss of Rs 6,426.7 crore it posted in the June 2024 quarter, according to a company filing.

The licence fees and spectrum usage charges payable to the government increased by about 6% to around Rs 947 crore during the reported quarter from around Rs 892 crore a year ago.

Revenue from operations of Vodafone Idea (VIL) increased by about 5% to Rs 11,022.5 crore during the quarter under review from Rs 10,508.3 crore in the year-ago period, mainly on account of a 15% increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) to Rs 177 in the reported quarter from Rs 154 in the June 2024 quarter.

VIL said that during the reported quarter, improvement in the network with capex of Rs 2,440 crore enabled it to arrest the decline of customers by 90% to 5 lakh compared to the decline of around 50 lakh it registered in the September 2024 and December 2024 quarters.

The company's total subscriber base stood at 19.77 crore at the end of the June 2025 quarter, comprising a 12.74 crore mix of 4G and 5G subscribers.

The company has rolled out 5G services in 22 cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mysuru, Surat, Ahmedabad, etc and plans to extend it to all cities across its priority 17 circles by September.

"We added over 4,800 new unique 4G towers during the quarter, reinforcing our focus to deliver superior connectivity. As of June 2025, Vi's total broadband site count stood at around 516,200," VIL said.

The company said that it is in discussion with banks to raise additional funds as required.

VIL, in which the government holds a 49% stake, reported outstanding net debt of over Rs 2 lakh crore and continues to bank on the Department of Telecom's support on adjusted gross revenue-related matters.

VIL's outstanding debt from banks (including interest accrued but not due) is Rs 1,944.5 crore, and the deferred payment obligation (including interest accrued but not due) towards spectrum and adjusted gross revenue aggregates to Rs 199,140.3 crore, the filing said.

"The group's ability to settle the above liabilities is dependent on further support from the DoT on the AGR matter, fundraising through equity and debt and generation of cash flow from operations. Based on current efforts, the Group believes that it would be able to get DoT support, successfully arrange funds and generate cash flow from operations," the filing said.

The company will get Rs 6,393.9 crore in assets from the promoters if it is able to discharge part of the AGR dues by December 2025.