Highlights- Vi earnings call Q3 FY23

Akshaya Moondra, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited.

“On equity to government toward interest related to deferred AGR and spectrum dues. The total amount to be converted into shares was INR161.33 billion. The process of issue of these shares to Government of India has since been completed.

Additionally, we have issued warrants to one of the Vodafone Group entities in July 2022. And they had invested INR4.4 billion into the company. Subsequent to exercise of auction attached to the warrants, we have issued 427.7 million equity shares at an issue price of INR10.2 per share. With these equity issuances, the promoter shareholding now stands at 50.4% and Government of India shareholding at 33.1%.

On fundraising. The shareholder resolution approving the preferential issue of OCDs to ATC has lapsed as the allotment of OCDs could not be completed within the prescribed period of 15 days from the date of passing of the shareholders’ resolution. Fresh approval has been given by the Board for issue of OCDs amounting to INR16 billion, subject to approval of the shareholders, for which the AGM is scheduled for February 25. These funds will be mainly used to pay amounts owed to ATC, India under the master lease agreements, and to the extent of remainder, for general corporate purposes.

Our strategic initiatives. The first priority area for us remains focused investment approach. We continue to follow our focused approach bias towards our 17 priority circles, which contribute over 98% of our revenues. We continue to reform our 3G spectrum to 4G and have closed around 2,800 3G sites during the quarter, while we added around 2,000 4G sites. Even though our overall broadband site count has remained flattish compared to last quarter, our broadband coverage as well as capacity has expanded.

5G rollout has been considered as part of our overall CapEx plan and we continue to work towards rolling out 5G for our consumers, which can be executed quickly once funding is in place. In the meantime, we have live 5G clusters in Delhi and Pune, where we have partnered with various OEMs to test compatibility of available 5G handsets. Further, we are in advanced stages of discussions with various network vendors for finalization of our 5G rollout strategy.”

Murthy GVAS, Chief Financial Officer, Vodafone Idea Limited

“The CapEx spend for the quarter stands at INR7.5 billion, and the CapEx for the nine-months, stands at INR28 billion. The gross debt excluding these liabilities and including interest due — including interest accrued but not due as of December 31, ’22, stands at INR2,228.9 billion comprising of deferred spectrum revenue — payment obligations of INR1,398 billion and the AGR liability of INR699.1 billion that are due to the government.

The debt to the banks and financial institutions of INR131.9 billion. And the cash and cash equivalents are of INR1.6 billion. The net debt stands at INR2,227.3 billion.

As we have opted for deferment of spectrum — spectrum and AGR dues for a period of four years in line with the Telecom Reform package, the first payment towards spectrum and the moratorium will start from October 2025 and AGR from March ’26. The interest related to the deferment of spectrum and AGR instalments have been converted to equity but issuing shares to the Government of India on 7th February, 2023. The accounting of this, will be considered in Quarter 4.”

CT Bureau