‘Vi evaluating govt’s option to convert interest into equities’
NEW DELHI: Debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea is evaluating the option of converting interest dues arising out of the deferment of statutory payments into equity, a senior company official said on Monday.
The company is also in talks with banks and investors for raising funds and part of the proceeds is likely to be utilised towards meeting obligations related to debt maturing this fiscal, Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) chief financial officer Akshay Moondra said during the company’s earning call.
The government has given the option to defer all their dues payment for spectrum and Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) by four years to provide debt-ridden telecom companies an opportunity to improve their cash flows and invest in business.
“For the AGR dues, we are in discussion with the DoT (Department of Telecom) to determine the final amount in line with the Supreme Court judgement. Further, there is an option to convert such deferment into equity. We are evaluating this and we will be reverting on our decision on upfront conversion of interest into equity by the deadline of January 12, 2022,” Moondra said.
According to him, the company is also in discussions with banks and investors for raising both debt and equity.
“These discussions also include some kind of arrangement of funding to be able to meet immediate maturities of debt which are coming up in the remaining quarter of FY’22.” Last week, VIL reported narrowing of consolidated loss to ₹7,144.6 crore for the September quarter on account of an increase in mobile services tariff and cost optimisation.
The company had posted a loss of ₹7,218.2 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
In the latest September quarter, its consolidated revenue declined about 13% to ₹9,406.4 crore. The same was at ₹10,791.2 crore in the year-ago period.
VIL’s total gross debt, excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due, as of September 30, 2021 stood at ₹1,94,780 crore.