<p>Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Wednesday reported narrowing of its consolidated loss to Rs 7,022.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2021, mainly on account of cost optimisation.</p>.<p>Vodafone Idea (Vi) had posted a loss of Rs 11,643.5 crore in the same period a year ago.</p>.<p>Total income declined by about 19 per cent to Rs 9,647.8 crore from Rs 11,920.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2019-20.</p>.<p>"We enter financial year 2022 with renewed focus on executing our strategy to keep our customers ahead, and our cost optimization plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings.</p>.<p>"We are in active discussion with potential investors for fund raising, to achieve our strategic intent," Vi MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar said in a statement.</p>.<p>The company attributed the decline in revenue to abolishment of domestic interconnect usage charges with effect from January 1, 2021 and around 2.2 per cent dip on account of lower number of days in the quarter.</p>.<p>For the year ended March 31, 2021, the company's loss narrowed to Rs 44,233.1 crore from Rs 73,878.1 crore in 2019-20.</p>.<p>Consolidated total annual income declined by about 8 per cent to Rs 42,126.4 crore from Rs 45,996.8 crore a year ago.</p>.<p>The gross debt (excluding lease liabilities) as of March 31, 2021 stood at Rs 1,80,310 crore. This comprised deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 96,270 crore, AGR (adjusted gross revenue) liability of Rs 60,960 crore and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 23,080 crore.</p>.<p>Vi said it expects annual cost savings of Rs 4,000 crore by the end of 2021 through its cost optimisation exercise.</p>.<p>"After successfully achieving targeted merger opex synergies of Rs 84 billion, we have undertaken the cost optimization exercise across the company in line with the evolving industry structure and business model.</p>.<p>"We target to achieve Rs 40 billion of annualized cost savings by the end of this calendar year," the statement said.</p>.<p>The subscriber base of the company dipped to 26.78 crore during the reported quarter. However, it gained 42 lakh new 4G customers.</p>.<p>At the end of the quarter, the 4G subscriber base of Vi was 11.39 crore (compared to 10.97 crore in previous quarter).</p>.<p>The data volumes witnessed healthy growth of 8.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, driven by higher 4G additions, the statement said.</p>.<p>Vi's capital expenditure during the quarter was Rs 1,540 crore and Rs 4,150 crore for the full year.</p>.<p>"Our overall broadband site count stood at 4,52,650 as of March 31, 2021 compared to 4,36,006 a year ago. We have shut down over 30,000 3G sites during the year while we added over 47,000 4G sites," it said.</p>
<p>Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Wednesday reported narrowing of its consolidated loss to Rs 7,022.8 crore for the quarter ended March 2021, mainly on account of cost optimisation.</p>.<p>Vodafone Idea (Vi) had posted a loss of Rs 11,643.5 crore in the same period a year ago.</p>.<p>Total income declined by about 19 per cent to Rs 9,647.8 crore from Rs 11,920.4 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2019-20.</p>.<p>"We enter financial year 2022 with renewed focus on executing our strategy to keep our customers ahead, and our cost optimization plan remains on track to deliver the targeted savings.</p>.<p>"We are in active discussion with potential investors for fund raising, to achieve our strategic intent," Vi MD and CEO Ravinder Takkar said in a statement.</p>.<p>The company attributed the decline in revenue to abolishment of domestic interconnect usage charges with effect from January 1, 2021 and around 2.2 per cent dip on account of lower number of days in the quarter.</p>.<p>For the year ended March 31, 2021, the company's loss narrowed to Rs 44,233.1 crore from Rs 73,878.1 crore in 2019-20.</p>.<p>Consolidated total annual income declined by about 8 per cent to Rs 42,126.4 crore from Rs 45,996.8 crore a year ago.</p>.<p>The gross debt (excluding lease liabilities) as of March 31, 2021 stood at Rs 1,80,310 crore. This comprised deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 96,270 crore, AGR (adjusted gross revenue) liability of Rs 60,960 crore and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs 23,080 crore.</p>.<p>Vi said it expects annual cost savings of Rs 4,000 crore by the end of 2021 through its cost optimisation exercise.</p>.<p>"After successfully achieving targeted merger opex synergies of Rs 84 billion, we have undertaken the cost optimization exercise across the company in line with the evolving industry structure and business model.</p>.<p>"We target to achieve Rs 40 billion of annualized cost savings by the end of this calendar year," the statement said.</p>.<p>The subscriber base of the company dipped to 26.78 crore during the reported quarter. However, it gained 42 lakh new 4G customers.</p>.<p>At the end of the quarter, the 4G subscriber base of Vi was 11.39 crore (compared to 10.97 crore in previous quarter).</p>.<p>The data volumes witnessed healthy growth of 8.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter, driven by higher 4G additions, the statement said.</p>.<p>Vi's capital expenditure during the quarter was Rs 1,540 crore and Rs 4,150 crore for the full year.</p>.<p>"Our overall broadband site count stood at 4,52,650 as of March 31, 2021 compared to 4,36,006 a year ago. We have shut down over 30,000 3G sites during the year while we added over 47,000 4G sites," it said.</p>