Vodafone Idea Q1 loss widens to Rs 4,908 crore; margins expand. Revenue for the quarter ended June fell 4.3 per cent to Rs 11,269.9 crore, hurt by subscribers leaving due to the company's minimum recharge plans and "continued down trading of high ARPU (average revenue per user) customers.
It will be keenly watched how they provision so huge amount of sudden liability along with their capex, network integration in case of VIL and both have huge debts and how they cope with the earnings numbers which too don't look to be extremely positive. Their balancesheets would be spread thinly, said an analyst.
In its Q1 result, Airtel posted first consolidated loss in 14 years. It posted a loss of Rs 2,866 crore for the first quarter of FY20. The telecom major had registered a consolidated profit of Rs 97.30 crore in the corresponding quarter of last year. The telecom major posted a revenue of Rs 20,737.9 crore in the quarter under review as against Rs 19,799 crore in the year-ago period.
Market participants said Airtel, which is slightly less affected by the order due to its better cash flow, may have an edge in the given situation than Vodafone Idea which has quarterly huge losses.
On Tuesday, Vodafone CEO Nick Read called the situation "critical" in the Indian JV Vodafone Idea Ltd after the Supreme Court order on AGR.
The Supreme Court of India in October ordered telecom operators to pay up $4 billion worth dues for a computation of what constitutes revenues. Vodafone owns 45 percent of Vodafone Idea but had last participated in a rights issue of the JV. VIL has a debt of Rs 1.18 lakh crore.
Vodafone has sought a two-year extension on the spectrum payment, besides lower license fees and taxes. On AGR relief, it has further asked the court to pace out the payment requirement over 10 years with a waiver on interest and penalties.
On October 24, the Supreme Court upheld the definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) calculation as stipulated by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
More than half the amount due is owed by Airtel and Vodafone. The apex court further held that not only the original charges but the principal interest and penalties on delayed payments would also be payable.
( With inputs from IANS )