Vodafone Idea Q3FY26 Results: Loss, ARPU Rise

Vodafone Idea (Vi) on Tuesday reported a loss of ₹5,286 crore in the third quarter of the financial year 2025-26 (Q3FY26), down from ₹6,609 crore loss during the same period last year. On a sequential basis, loss narrowed from ₹5,524 crore in Q2FY26.

The company attributed the reduction in loss to improving operational performance, with its customer average revenue per user (Arpu) at ₹186 during the quarter, up 7.3 per cent Y-o-Y.

The telecom major’s revenue from operations for the quarter stood at ₹11,323 crore, up 1.85 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) and 1.14 per cent sequentially.

Vi Q3 highlights

India’s third-largest telecom operator reported an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of ₹4,816 crore during the December quarter of FY26, up from ₹4,712 crore during the same quarter last year. Ebitda margin stood at 42.5 per cent, up marginally by 10 basis points (bps) from Q3FY25.

As of December 31, 2025, the company’s debt from banks stood at ₹1,126 crore. It also raised ₹3,300 crore through non-convertible debentures (NCD) during the quarter, while cash and bank balances totalled ₹6,963 crore.

Vi’s total subscriber base stood at 192.9 million during the period.

Vi’s AGR relief

The result announcement comes soon after Vi, earlier this month, secured a 10-year breather on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Under the revised terms, the Centre has directed Vi to pay a maximum of ₹124 crore annually for six years starting March 2026, followed by ₹100 crore annually for four years beginning March 2032.

Vi said its AGR dues, currently ₹87,695 crore, is currently being reassessed by a government panel, with annual payments on the revised amount scheduled from March 2036 to March 2041.

“This quarter marked an important inflection point for the company with positive resolution of key legacy issues. We are thankful to the Government for offering a definitive, long-term and conclusive solution on the AGR matter. We also concluded the settlement of CLAM receivable of ₹6,394 crore with the Vodafone Group. One of the key milestones for the quarter was the successful NCD raise of ₹3,300 crore, despite an AGR overhang; a clear reflection of lender confidence on our ability to improve the business performance,” said Abhijit Kishore, chief executive officer of Vi.

Shares of Vi closed marginally lower at ₹9.84 apiece on the BSE on Tuesday, ahead of the results announcement.