Recoveries From Worldcom Boost Vsnl Numbers

Stocks of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) recovered on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today, after the company issued a statement that it has been receiving outstanding dues from the bankrupt WorldCom.

The scrip hit an intraday high of Rs 127.90, but settled at Rs 126, up 1.04 per cent. More than 1.97 lakh shares of the company changed hands on the BSE today, while 3.83 lakh shares changed hands on the National Stock Exchange.

VSNL announced during mid-session on Tuesday that it had received Rs 333.6 crore from WorldCom over the last few weeks.

However, dealers said the stock continued trade flat on concerns that it might not be able recover the rest. WorldCom owes VSNL about Rs 400-450 crore in settlement charges for carrying traffic during April-June 2002.

Analysts said there were concerns that VSNL may have to write off dues of about Rs 400 crore from the distressed telecom giant, as the latter filed for bankruptcy.

WorldCom has been VSNL's biggest partner for calls to and from the US. In the telecom sector, one international carrier pays another for carrying its traffic. In this instance, calls made to the US from India were routed by VSNL to WorldCom, which then connected it to the American local access provider. Likewise, calls from the US to India were routed by WorldCom to VSNL.

For the first quarter ended June 2002, VSNL posted a 28.5 per cent fall in net profit at Rs 261.20 crore, as against Rs 365.50 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Net sales decreased by 10 per cent to Rs 1,373.1 crore from Rs 1,528.3 crore.

Meanwhile, the company reported that traffic volume during the quarter increased by approximately 24 per cent over the corresponding period last year.