Vodafone Idea will on Monday, December 9, consider a proposal to raise up to Rs 2,000 crore through a preferential equity issuance to one of the promoter entities, the telecom company has informed stock exchanges.
"...we wish to inform you that a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Company is scheduled to be held on Monday, 9 December 2024, inter-alia, to consider proposal for raising of funds not exceeding Rs. 2,000 crore, by way of issuance of equity shares and / or convertible securities on a preferential basis to one or more entities belonging to Vodafone Group (one of the Promoters of the Company)," Voda Idea said in the stock exchange notification late evening on December 4.
The shares of Voda Idea will be in focus after Vodafone Plc announced plans to offload shares worth Rs 2,700 crore in a block trade on December 5.
Voda Idea has cash and bank balance of Rs 13,620 crore on books, which the company claims is 'more than sufficient' to execute balance capex plans for H2FY25 of Rs 8,000 crore. It is 'actively engaged' with lenders to tie up debt funding for its long-term network expansion plans. The debt from banks stands at Rs 3,270 crore in Q2FY25 versus 7830 crore a year ago, the company had said during its earnings call.
November was the third month in a row when Vodafone Idea, along with other private telecom operators lost subscribers, soon after the July tariff hike. In contrast, BSNL added subscribers in September, as per TRAI data.
Vodafone Idea also said that going forward, tariff increases will happen, but there is 'not too much of room' to increase tariff at the entry level, and will increase more at the higher consumption levels.
In November, Moneycontrol had reported that the Centre has approved the waiving of bank guarantee for telecom operators on spectrum purchased before 2022. The move is seen as a relief to Vodafone Idea, which owes the government over Rs 24,700 crore on bank guarantees (BG). Indian telecom operators, including Airtel and Vodafone Idea, collectively hold more than Rs 30,000 crore in BG obligations.
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