Voda Idea readies `25,000cr war chest

Mumbai, Nov. 14: In its maiden earnings announcement as a joint entity, Vodafone Idea on Wednesday reported a consolidated loss of `4,973 crore for the September quarter and announced a fund infusion of `25,000 crore to help it take on cutthroat competition.

The entity, which became the largest telco with 422 million subscribers after the merger on August 31, reported consolidated revenue of

`7,663 crore.

Of the `25,000 crore of fresh capital infusion, Vodafone will pump in

`11,000 crore into the new company, and the Birla group that owned Idea will infuse `7,250 crore, the company said, indicating that the promoters are ready for a long haul and willing to fight.

The numbers for the reported quarter include results for Idea Cellular up to August 30, and for Vodafone Idea from August 31 to September 30 and hence these are not comparable, the companies said in a statement.

The “pro-forma” revenue derived without considering the alignment of accounting policies, stood at `12,023 crore, the company said. At `4,973 crore of losses, this is the worst show by any operator.

The company, however, continued to face difficulties because of competition, which was visible in a 4.7 per cent decline in average revenue per user to `88, the lowest among the private telcos.