Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea eyes external equity funding by year-end

livemint.com:

Vodafone Idea may reportedly close its external equity funding by the end of this year. Akshaya Moondra, the chief executive of the cash-strapped telecom during the earning call said the talks for equity funding have picked up momentum and he anticipated that they may see a positive outcome in the coming quarters. The funding is crucial for the telco as it has not posted any profit since the 2018 merger (Vodafone India and Idea Cellular).

The company has constantly been losing its subscribers to Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel. Through this funding, Vi will be able to raise debt from a consortium of banks. Meanwhile, on Monday, the telco received funding assurance of up to ₹2,000 crore from a promoter group entity, Vodafone Idea informed about this development in a regulatory filing.

"The company has received a communication from a promoter group entity confirming that in the event of any fund requirement for meeting its impending payment obligations by the company, it shall provide direct or indirect financial support to the extent of ₹2,000 crore," Vodafone Idea said in the filing. Moondra said that one of the promoters has given assurance of ₹2,000 crore for payments. Still, there is a need to get external funding.

Vodafone Idea's consolidated net loss widened to ₹7,840 crore in the April-June quarter of FY2023-24. The consolidated revenue from operations during the reported quarter increased marginally by 2.3% to ₹10,655.5 crore from ₹10,406.8 crore in June 2022 quarter. The total gross debt (excluding lease liabilities and including interest accrued but not due) as of June 30, 2023, stood at ₹2,11,760 crore.