Voda Idea, Bharti Airtel shares zoom on rate hike move

Shares of Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel were in heavy demand on Tuesday, with the former rising sharply by up to 35 per cent after both the companies announced a hike in mobile phone call and data charges from December.

The company's scrip zoomed 34.68 per cent to close at Rs 6.02 on the BSE. During the day, it advanced 42.95 per cent to Rs 6.39.

Bharti Airtel shares also rallied 7.36 per cent to Rs 439.25 at close of trade. In intra-day, it climbed 8.87 per cent to Rs 445.45 -- its 52-week high.

Faced with intense competition and unprecedented statutory dues, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea on Monday announced a hike in mobile phone call and data charges from December saying the increase was warranted for viability of their business.

First, Vodafone Idea in a statement announced plans to raise tariffs for the first time in three years only to be followed by a similarly worded statement minutes later from Airtel.

The two did not quantify the increase in rates, but said that the hike will be effective beginning next month.

"To ensure that its customers continue to enjoy world class digital experiences, Vodafone Idea will suitably increase the prices of its tariffs effective December 1, 2019," Vodafone Idea said.

The telecom sector is highly capital intensive with fast changing technology cycles that require continuing investments, Bharti Airtel said.

"It is, therefore, extremely important that the industry remains viable to support the vision of Digital India. Accordingly, Airtel will appropriately increase price offerings in the month beginning December," it added.

"We have seen a rapid move in sentiment in telecom sector from extreme pessimism to frenzy buying especially for Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel. Some days ago, everyone on the street was worried about huge losses posted by Airtel and Vodafone Idea after the Supreme court verdict on adjusted gross revenue (AGR) issue but, the market took this as worst is over scenario for the sector and the market is playing on better days ahead which led a sharp rally in telecom stocks," Santosh Meena, senior analyst, TradingBells said.