Are engaged for new funding and refinancing over Rs 6,000 crore, says Vi in its earnings call

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is in discussion with bond holders to refinance over Rs 6,000 crore of debt that is due in the next four-six months, the company said in an analyst call on Monday.

The Vi management working to raise cash and save interest costs. “We are generating positive cash from our operations, which enables us to meet our capex requirements, interest payments, and smaller principal payments. We have lumpy redemptions from December 2021 to February 2022, for which we are working on two fronts. First, we are engaged with investors to get new funding and, second, we are in discussion with bond holders to see refinancing possibilities,” said Chief Financial Officer Akshaya Moondra on the call.

He added the company had received Rs 1,000 crore in the form of income tax refund in the June quarter and expected to receive a significant part of the remaining Rs 5,800 crore within the year. Vi narrowed its net loss by 71 per cent to Rs 7,319 crore in the first quarter of FY22 on a year-on-year basis on account of lower exceptional expenses.

In the same period last year, it had posted a net loss of Rs 25,460 crore due to provisioning for adjusted gross revenues. On a sequential basis, however, it was a weak showing and the loss widened from Rs 7,022 crore due to lower revenues.

Vi Managing Director and CEO Ravinder Takkar blamed the subscriber loss to the second wave of the pandemic and added that the 4G customer base remained stable with a decline of around a million users. He said that customer engagement and the quality of the network remained good, resulting in high usage by its 4G customers. On plans to increase its 4G coverage, Takkar said it has been unable to do it due to fund raising delay.
CT Bureau