Debt-laden Vodafone Idea is seeking an extra 30 days to pay around Rs. The Rs 1,680 crore spectrum auction installment will be paid on Thursday, a senior company official said on Wednesday. The company has offered to pay that amount plus interest.
“We have submitted a letter to the Ministry of Communications proposing to pay spectrum auction installments of Rs 16.8 crore for the 2022 auction due on August 17 with a 30-day grace period and interest in accordance with the terms” NIA (Invitation for Applications Notice),” Vodafone Idea chief financial officer Murthy GVAS said on an earnings call.
This progress comes even though one of the promoters has confirmed to the company that it will provide direct or indirect financial support of up to Rs. Rs 2,000 crore if any funds are required to meet upcoming payment obligations.
The company also won 5G spectrum in the mid-band (3,300 MHz) and mmWave spectrum in the 26 GHz band in a July 2022 spectrum auction.
Vodafone Idea CEO Akshaya Moondra said in a conference call that the company’s discussions with investors and banks are progressing well and that it expects to close the fundraising in the next quarter.
“We’re making good progress and expect to close those discussions in the next quarter. In terms of equity financing, that’s true. In terms of debt financing, we’ve been working with syndicates of banks for a long time. Generally speaking, their requirements are equity There is also a need for bundling … we expect to finalize these financing arrangements in the next quarter,” Mudra said.
He said one of the promoters had given a guarantee of Rs. 200 crore for disbursement. Nonetheless, external funding still needs to be secured. Vodafone Idea’s consolidated net loss widened to Rs. Revenue for the first quarter ended June 30 was Rs 7,840 crore.
Consolidated operating income in the reported quarter rose slightly by 2.3% to Rs. Rs 10,655.5 crore for June 2022 quarter was Rs 10,406.8 crore.
Total debt (excluding lease liabilities and including accrued but not yet due interest) as at 30 June 2023 is in Rs. Rs 2,11,760 crore including deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 2,11,760 crore. 1,33,740 crore with an AGR liability of Rs. The amount due to the government is Rs 66,860 crore.
Debt of banks and financial institutions in Rs. 95 billion rupees and 16.6 billion rupees raised through debt instruments.
Holds cash and cash equivalents of Rs. 250 crore with a net debt of Rs. 2,11,510 crore.
As of June 2023, VIL’s total user base fell to 221.4 million from 240 million a year ago.
To stem the overall decline in the customer base, companies need to expand 4G coverage and invest in 5G technology, Moondra said.
He added that the company has accumulated supplier payments, which it expects to recover starting next quarter.
“Once we’re done for the quarter and we’re able to manage our payments with promoter support and the non-operating cash inflow we’re looking at, we’ll be able to manage and eliminate vendor dues starting next quarter,” Mon said. Della said.
He noted that current mobile service rates need to increase for customers using higher tiers of data.
“Today, we are flattening the price for users who use 5-6 GB per month to 28 GB, which we don’t think is the right structure,” Moondra said.
VIL’s average revenue per user (ARPU), a key growth matrix for telecom operators, increased to Rs. Rs 139 for the June quarter. 128 a year ago.
Moondra said the ARPU range has compressed from zero to Rs. 2,000 rupees. 150 rupees inclusive of GST, everyone can fulfill their requirement by spending 150 rupees on the plan. 500-600.
“Right now, the requirement is to pay for what you use. At the high end where usage is higher, ARPU needs to go up. That’s definitely going to happen when we start to rationalize tariffs,” Moondra said.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was automatically generated from syndicated feeds.)
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