Vodafone Idea to Consider Raising Funds Worth Rs. 500 Crore at Wednesday Board Meeting

Telecom operator Vodafone Idea's Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday to consider a proposal for raising funds aggregating up to Rs. 500 crore, by way of issuance of equity shares or convertible warrants on a preferential basis to one or more entities belonging to Vodafone Group, it said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. Vodafone Group is one of the promoters of the telecom operator.

The filing further said that the trading window for dealing in shares of the company shall remain closed for all designated persons under the company's Code of Conduct, and the same shall remain closed till 48 hours from the conclusion of the meeting of the Board -- till June 24, 2022, both days inclusive.

The trading window for dealing in the securities of the company will reopen on June 25, 2022, added the filing.

On Friday, the shares of the company closed at Rs. 8.2 apiece, down 3.5 percent from the previous day.

Telecom firm Vodafone Idea in May this year had reported a consolidated net loss of Rs. 6,563 crore for the fourth quarter of 2021-22, which is lower than Rs. 7,023 crore net loss recorded in the corresponding period of last year.

The company's revenue for the quarter ended March 2022 rose to Rs. 10,240 crore, from Rs. 9,647.8 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter of the last year, posting a year-on-year increase of 6.46 percent.

Quarter-on-quarter basis, the company's revenue grew by 5.4 percent in January-March 2022 period.

Vodafone Idea said in a statement that the growth in revenue was supported by tariff hikes effective November 25, 2021.

"We are pleased to announce the third consecutive quarter of revenue growth driven by tariff interventions taken in November 2021. While the overall subscriber base has been impacted primarily on account of the tariff increase, the 4G subscriber base continued to grow on the back of superior data and voice experience offered by Vi GIGAnet," said Ravinder Takkar, MD & CEO, Vodafone Idea Limited.

"We are in the process of creating a differentiated digital experience for our customers and added several new digital offerings across various genres during the quarter. We successfully completed the first tranche of fundraising in the form of a preferential equity contribution of Rs. 45 billion from our promoters. We continue to actively engage with lenders and investors for further fundraising," Takkar added.

The company's total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of March 31, 2022 stands at Rs. 1,97,880 crore, comprising of deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs. 1,13,860 crore, AGR liability of Rs. 65,950 crore that are due to the Government and debt from banks and financial institutions of Rs. 18,070 crore.