AGR dues: Vodafone share price falls 15%; Bharti Airtel flat post partial payment to DoT

Telecom stocks were trading lower on Tuesday, with Vodafone Idea dropping 15% intraday and Tata Teleservices, down 9% after telecom companies cleared partial AGR dues to DoT. Bharti Airtel stock was down 2.3% intraday.

This was after the Supreme Court rejected a plea by telecom firms including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea for extension in the payment schedule and asked them to deposit an estimated Rs 1.47 lakh crore in past dues for spectrum and licences by March 17.

Vodafone paid Rs 2,500 crore as part payment of dues to the department of telecommunications (DoT) for adjusted gross revenue on Monday. A further Rs 1,000 crore is to be paid before the end of the week, the filing added.

Vodafone stock price fell 15% intraday to the low of Rs 2.91, mere 0.30 points away from 52-week low of Rs 2.61. The stock has underperformed telecom sector by 9.63%. The stock has eroded value worth 35% in mere one week, 30% in one month, 50% year-to-date and 82% in one year. The market cap of the mid cap stock stands at Rs 9,828 crore.

In another filing, the telecom company informed that Care Ratings Limited (CARE), has downgraded its rating on Long Term Bank Facilities and Non-Convertible Debentures. This was on account of significant erosion in the overall risk profile of the company while taking into cognisance of the financial impact of no relief being granted on modification plea on 14th February 2020 of telecom companies (tefcos) seeking new schedule of Adjusted Gross Revenues (AGR) dues by Hon'ble Supreme Court and significant losses to the tune of Rs 6,453 Crores in Q3FY20.

Mukul Rohatgi, the senior counsel for Vodaonfe told NDTV on Monday said that the decision of paying all its dues to the government would make 10,000 people jobless and inconvenience to 30 crore subscribers.

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Bharti Airtel paid Rs 10,000 crore in dues to DoT and said it would pay remaining dues by March 17. The filing added that the payment of dues includes amount on behalf of merged company Telenor India and another Rs 500 crore on behalf of Bharti Hexacom Limited, its subsidiary.

Bharti Airtel stock price earlier fell 2.3% to an intraday low of Rs 551, although later touched its new 52-week high of Rs 568.6 hit yesterday. The stock outperformed the telecom sector by 0.25%, as the sector has fallen 0.57% intraday. Bharti Airtel stock has risen 5% in one week, 12% in one month, 23% year-to-date and 102% in one year. The market cap of the large cap stock stands at Rs 3.09 lakh crore.

The share price of Tata Teleservice (Maharashtra) Ltd hovered near the day's low of Rs 3.25 on BSE, declining 8.9% away from the previous close of Rs 3.57. The micro cap stock with a market cap of mere Rs 702 crore has fallen over 18% in one week. The stock has risen 28% in one month, 48% year-to-date and 14.5% in one year.

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"Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML) have made a payment of Rs 2,197 crores (Two thousand one hundred and ninety-seven crores) to the DoT towards License Fees and Spectrum Usage Charges," said the company in a press release to BSE.

By Rupa Burman Roy

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