Mumbai12 hours ago
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Vodafone Group has sold 48.5 crore shares of Indus Towers at a price of Rs 310-341 per share.
Vodafone Group has sold its 18% stake in mobile tower operator Indus Towers through a block deal. By selling it, the group raised funds of 1.8 billion dollars i.e. Rs 15,037 crore.
The company will use this fund to repay the loan taken from banks. Vodafone Group said it has sold 48.5 crore shares of Indus Towers at a price of Rs 310-341 per share.
Vodafone-Idea is the third largest telecom operator in the country in terms of customers. Bharti Airtel is at second place and Reliance Jio is at first place.
Vodafone held 21.5% stake in Indus Towers.
Vodafone had 21.5% stake in Indus Towers before the sale, which has now come down to 3.5%. The company had earlier planned to sell 10% of its stake. However, due to strong demand from investors, the company almost doubled the size of the sale.
Airtel said that it has bought about 1% stake of Indus Towers in this transaction. Now Airtel’s stake in Indus Towers has increased to about 49%. Vodafone-Idea shares are trading today at Rs 16.61 with a decline of 1.83%.
The market cap of Vodafone-Idea (VI) has reached Rs 1.13 lakh crore.
VI’s 5G rollout and 4G coverage plans
Six days ago, news came that Vodafone Group can sell its entire stake worth $ 2.3 billion i.e. Rs 19,213 crore in Indus Towers through a block deal. According to reports, Vodafone Idea has plans for 5G rollout and 4G coverage.
VI’s board had given approval to raise funds
A few days ago, the board of directors of telecom company Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) had approved the plan to raise funds. Under this, the company will issue about 166 crore new shares at ₹14.80 per share to raise ₹2,458 crore.
The company had said in its exchange filing that it will allot 102.7 crore shares worth Rs 1,520 crore to Nokia Solutions and Networks India Private Limited. At the same time, the remaining 63.37 crore shares worth Rs 938 crore will be allotted to Ericsson India Private Limited.
Rs 18,000 crore raised through FPO two months ago
Two months ago, in April 2024, Vodafone Idea had raised Rs 18,000 crore through Follow On Public Offer i.e. FPO. The company had fixed the price band for its FPO between ₹10 to ₹11. Investors could bid for a minimum of one lot i.e. 1298 shares.
VI gets approval for loan of ₹14,000 crore
A few days ago, a consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India (SBI) had given in-principal approval to Vodafone Idea (VI) for a loan of Rs 14,000 crore. Vodafone Idea is trying to revive its loss-making operations through a number of measures, including the launch of 5G service.
Moneycontrol had quoted sources as saying that no official announcement has been made yet in this regard. However, the joint venture between Vodafone Group Plc and Birla Group has received informal commitments from multiple lenders including Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda, Union Bank and other private and public sector banks.
VI incurs fourth-quarter loss of ₹7,674 crore
VI had released fourth quarter and annual results on May 16. The company’s loss in the fourth quarter (January-March) of FY 2024 increased by 19.56% to ₹7,674 crore. The company’s consolidated net loss in the same quarter a year ago was ₹6,418 crore.
Company’s loss increases by 6.6% in FY 2024
VI’s consolidated loss for full FY24 widened by 6.61% to ₹31,238 crore. The deficit in FY 2023 was ₹29,301 crore.
Revenue in FY 2024 was ₹42,651 crore
VI’s consolidated revenue from operations increased to ₹42,651 crore in 2024. Revenue in FY 2023 was ₹42,177 crore. That means there was an increase of 1.12% in revenue.
The number of 4G subscribers was 12.63 crores.
The company said that the number of its 4G subscribers has increased for the 11th consecutive quarter. At the end of the fourth quarter, the number of 4G subscribers stood at 12.63 crore. It was Rs 12.26 crore in the same quarter last year.
The overall subscriber base of the company was 21.26 crore. Total data traffic for the fourth quarter grew 4.3% year-on-year.
Vodafone Idea is facing financial problems
Vodafone Idea is facing financial problems, on which it has a debt of Rs 2,10,000 crore from banks. Vodafone Idea wants to improve its service and basic infrastructure to compete with its competitors (Jio and Bharti Airtel). The company is currently far behind big competitors like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.
