India operator Vodafone Idea registered an increase in annual revenue for the first time since its merger in 2018, benefiting from gains in post-paid subscribers and 4G additions.

CEO Akshaya Moondra noted in its fiscal Q4 release (to end March) it continued to see growth in ARPU and 4G subscribers.

Total revenue in fiscal 2023 grew 9.5 per cent to INR385.2 billion ($4.7 billion).

Moondra stated during the quarter it issued equity shares to the government. He added that to raise funds to expand its network, including a 5G rollout, it continues to engage with its lenders and other parties for further fundraising.

The operator’s net loss in fiscal Q4 narrowed by 2.2 per cent year-on-year to INR64.2 billion, with depreciation and amortisation costs falling 3.5 per cent to INR57.1 billion.

Total Q4 revenue rose 2.9 per cent to INR105.3 billion.

While it shed 18 million subs year-on-year to end March with 225.9 million, post-paid users accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the total, up from 8.2 per cent a year earlier. LTE subs rose by 4.5 million to 122.6 million.

Blended ARPU improved 8.9 per cent to INR135, while average data consumption by LTE users increased 8.8 per cent to 15.5GB a month.

Capex for the fiscal year fell to INR33.6 billion from INR57.8 billion in fiscal 2022.