Vodafone Idea posts ₹51,970 cr Q4 profit on AGR relief, promoter to infuse ₹4,730 cr

Vodafone Idea, India’s third-largest telecom operator, posted a ₹51,970 crore net profit in the March quarter owing to one-time accounting gain from the government's adjusted gross revenue (AGR) relief.

This is the first time in recent years that the telecom operator has posted a net profit and returned to the black. To be sure, the company booked an exceptional gain of ₹58,116 crore during the quarter on the reduction of deferred AGR dues and the recognition of the present value of future AGR payments.

Before accounting for the exceptional gain, the fourth-quarter loss stood at ₹5,515 crore. It incurred losses of ₹7,167 crore and ₹5,286 crore in the year-ago and quarter-ago periods, respectively.

Promoter infusion

Separately, on Saturday, the telecom operator said the promoter, the Aditya Birla Group, has committed to a capital infusion of ₹4,730 crore. The board has approved the issuance of up to 4.3 billion warrants, each convertible into one equity share, representing a 3.82% stake, to Suryaja Investments Pte Ltd, Singapore, an Aditya Birla Group entity, at an issue price of ₹11 per warrant, according to an exchange filing. It added that the proposal is subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting on 11 June.

On Friday, shares of Vodafone Idea ended 0.3% lower at ₹12.93 on National Stock Exchange.

The promoter infusion is significant as the company has been struggling for months to secure bank funding, with lenders remaining wary of extending fresh debt to the cash-strapped telecom services provider.

“25% of the Warrant Exercise Price shall be payable at the time of subscription of Warrants, and the balance 75% of the Warrant Exercise Price shall be payable by the warrant holder at the time of exercise of the right attached to the warrant to subscribe to equity shares,” the company said.

Q4 performance

A reduction in finance cost also helped the company's bottom line.

On 31 December, the Centre froze its AGR dues at ₹87,695. Later in April, the government slashed the cash-strapped telecom firm’s AGR dues by ₹23,600 crore to ₹64,046 crore after recalculation, deferring the bulk of its payments by 10 years, to be paid from FY36 to FY41.

Its revenue from operations increased 2.9% on-year and 2.3% on-quarter to ₹11,332 crore, surpassing the average estimate of four brokerage firms of ₹11,287 crore. The improvement in revenue can be attributed to its network expansion and improvements, 2G-to-4G/5G migration, and increased data consumption on the network.

“The gains from the capex investments and network rollout are now clearly visible. Q4FY26 marks a decisive step forward across all seven key parameters we benchmark our performance against, demonstrating sequential improvement. Most significantly, our subscriber addition turned net positive since February 2026, a meaningful milestone that reflects the impact of our sustained network investment,” said Abhijit Kishore, chief executive of Vodafone Idea.

Vodafone Idea’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) came in at ₹4,890 crore, up 4.9% year-on-year.

In 2025-26, the company witnessed a 3% increase in revenue from operations to ₹43,571 crore. The company posted a net profit of ₹34,552 crore, compared to a ₹20,217 crore loss in the previous year. The Ebitda for the year rose 4.8% to ₹19,003 crore.

It has also arrested the subscriber loss, which remained flat at 192.8 million at the end of March.

“Our monthly subscribers’ addition has turned positive since February 2026. We closed the quarter with 128.9 million 4G/5G subscribers, up from 126.4 million in the same period last year,” the company said.

Despite a shorter quarter with two fewer billing days, its blended average revenue per user (Arpu) grew 1.16% sequentially to ₹174 a month, from ₹172 in the December quarter. Its customer Arpu, excluding machine-to-machine users, was at ₹190, up from ₹186 in the previous quarter. Network upgrades and 2G to 4G/5G migration also helped it improve its Arpu. In comparison, Jio’s Arpu stood at ₹214 a month at the end of March, while that of Bharti Airtel was at ₹257 per month.

As on 31 March, the company’s bank debt stood at ₹726 crore, down from ₹2,326 crore for the year-ago period, the company said. Additionally, in December 2025, Vodafone Idea raised ₹3,300 crore via non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The cash and bank balance stood at ₹3,715 crore as of 31 March 2026.

While Vodafone Idea has got relief on the AGR front, its deferred spectrum dues stood at ₹1.27 trillion. Further, following the revised payment schedule, the company’s AGR-related liability in its books stood at ₹25,254 crore under present-value accounting norms.

This means that although Vodafone Idea’s total AGR dues are fixed at ₹64,046 crore, the liability recorded in its books reflects the present value of future AGR-related payments, in accordance with accounting standards.

The company said the instalments payable under deferred payment obligations, as scheduled for March 2027, amount to ₹7,076 crore.