Vodafone Idea tanks after SC ruling on AGR dues

Vodafone Idea slumped 35.26% to Rs 3.14 after the Supreme Court, while hearing the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) petition, reportedly said that a reassessment of dues may amount to contempt of Court.

Among other telecom stocks, Bharti Airtel was up 0.77% at Rs 457.60. Bharti Infratel was down 14.17% to Rs 166.55.

The media reported that a bench of the Supreme Court of India on 18 March 2020 held that no further objections to its orders would be allowed against payable dues. Justice Arun Mishra reportedly questioned the telecom companies' (telcos) self-assessment. The bench further added that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) demand was confirmed by the court and self-assessment cannot be allowed when Supreme Court (SC) order clearly spells out the dues. He reportedly added that some telcos have requested 8-10 months' time to corroborate numbers of self-assessment, but this cannot be allowed.

On Monday (16 March), Vodafone Idea said it filed its self-assessment of the AGR liabilities with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on 6 March 2020, in which AGR liability principal amount of Rs 6,854 crore was determined for the period from FY 2006-07 to FY 2018-19. The company had earlier paid a sum of Rs 2,500 crore on 17 February 2020 and a further sum of Rs 1,000 crore on 20 February 2020 towards this liability. The company has on 16 March 2020 paid a further amount of Rs 3,354 crore to the DoT, being the balance part of the principal amount towards AGR liability. With the payment of Rs 3354 crore to the DoT, the company has paid the full principal amount of Rs 6854 crore towards the AGR dues.

On a consolidated basis, Vodafone Idea reported net loss of Rs 5,807.24 crore in Q3 December 2019 as against net loss of Rs 31,773.48 crore in Q2 September 2019. Net sales rose 2.18% to Rs 11,076.20 crore in Q3 December 2019 over Q2 September 2019, primarily supported by strong 4G additions driving average revenue per user (ARPU) improvement.

Pre-tax loss stood at Rs 6421.40 crore in Q3 December 2019, lower than pre-tax loss of Rs 36959.20 crore in Q2 September 2019 and pre-tax loss of Rs 7004.30 crore in Q3 December 2018.

Vodafone Idea operates as a telecom service provider. The company offers 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile services, as well as mobile payments, advanced enterprise offerings, and entertainment.

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