Telecom company Vodafone Idea is in talks with two government lenders Power Finance Corporation and REC Ltd to meet its funding requirement, The Economic Times reported on September 10.
According to the report, the executives of the debt-laden telco and Aditya Birla group met the senior officials of the two lenders over the past few weeks. The telecom operator has asked for Rs 25,000-crore loan to cover its capital expenditure and maintenance cost for the next three years, the report cited sources as saying.
The firm has not yet sent a formal proposal to the lenders, the report said.
Moneycontrol couldn’t verify the report independently.
Moneycontrol has reported that the firm raised about Rs 24,000 crore of equity, including Rs 18,000 crore through a follow-on public offering (FPO) in April.
Following the fundraising, the firm cleared all its statutory dues of around Rs 700 crore, including licence fees and spectrum charges, for the April-June quarter, the first time the telecom operator managed to meet its obligations in more than two years.
Last week, Goldman Sachs, in its latest research report, expressed concerns about the telecom companies, saying the company faces difficulties in achieving free cash flow break-even and recovering market share.
The investment banker also maintained its “sell” rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 2.5, suggesting an 83 percent downside.
Goldman Sach expects Vodafone Idea to lose another 300 basis points in market share over the next three-four years.
Following the report, shares of the telecom operator plunged on September 6 more than 13 percent to hit a 52-week low of Rs 9.55.
On September 9, the stock closed at Rs 13.27 on the National Stock Exchange, down 0.60 percent from the previous close.
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