Vodafone Idea shares sink 12%; Rs 45,000-cr fundraise not seen enough to rescue telco

Vodafone Idea shares fell as much as 12 percent on February 28 even after the board of directors of the cash-strapped telecom operator decided to raise funds to the tune of Rs 45,000 crore. Brokerages remained cautious, saying that the fundraising alone might not be enough to rescue the company, as it misses the 5G bus.

“Vodafone Idea Ltd will not be fully out of the woods, in our view,” said Nomura, which retained its ‘reduce’ call on the stock, with a target price of Rs 6.5.

At 10.50am, Vodafone Idea stock was trading at Rs 14 on NSE.

The company said it will raise Rs 20,000 crore through a combination of equity or equity-linked instruments and the rest through debt and promoters will also participate in the proposed fund-raising.

Despite the fundraise, brokerages retained their ‘reduce’ calls. “f VIL is able to tie up the entire fund raise, it will be a material positive; however,
VIL will not be fully out of the woods, in our view,” said Nomura.

Vodafone Idea said it will convene a meeting of its shareholders on April 2, and after getting their approval, it expects to complete the equity fund-raise in the coming quarter.

On February 28, the Vodafone Idea shares settled lower by 4.45 percent on the NSE at Rs 16.1 each. However, since the announcement of the board of directors considering a fundraise on February 22, shares of the company have gained 5.2 percent.

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“The proposed fund-raise follows a marked improvement in operating metrics. The company has managed to grow its 4G subscriber base and ARPUs consecutively for the last 10 quarters,” said the company, in a filing with the bourses.

In the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24, the telecom operator recorded a net loss of Rs 6,985.9 crore, reflecting a decrease of 12.56 percent compared to Rs 7,990 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. However, its revenue came in at Rs 10,673.1 crore, an increase of 0.49 percent from the year-ago period.

Vodafone Idea is a partnership between Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Group. The company provides pan India voice and data services across 2G, 3G and 4G platforms.

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