Vodafone Plc on Tuesday posted a $6.71-billion loss for the year ended March, mainly due to mounting losses at its India unit.
The British major had to write down nearly $4 billion on account of the India operations, which is now being merged with Idea Cellular.
Vodafone India reported a $4.5-billion operating loss in fiscal 2017 due to intense competition after Reliance Jio launched its 4G services in September.
Revenues from India fell 4.9 per cent. Vodafone’s CEO Vittorio Colao said the merger with Idea will change the game.
“The proposed merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular will create a new champion for Digital India, while capturing synergies with an estimated net present value of $10 billion,” he said.
In India, the company’s data average revenue per user (ARPU), a key metric for a telecom firm, for users above 1 MB, fell to ₹140 in the fourth quarter ended March 31. In comparison, it was ₹160 in the fourth quarter of FY16.
“This is due to free data offer by new entrant,” the company said.