Vodafone Idea shares rise on plan to pay Rs 2,400-crore dues by September

Shares of debt-ridden telecom operator Vodafone Idea Ltd rose over 2% today after a PTI report said the firm plans to clear about Rs 2,400 crore of dues to the government by September. The telco recently cleared pending dues of licence fees and spectrum usage charges of about Rs 450 crore for the March quarter of 2022-23.

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Subsequently, the Vodafone Idea stock rose 2.5% to Rs 7.90 on BSE. Market cap of the firm rose to Rs 38,116 crore. Total 81.72 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 6.41 crore on BSE.

In terms of technicals, the relative strength index (RSI) of Vodafone Idea stands at 45.2, signaling it's trading neither in the overbought zone nor in the oversold zone. Vodafone Idea stock has a one-year beta of 0.9, indicating low volatility during the period. Vodafone Idea shares are trading lower than the 5 day, 10 day, 20 day but higher than the 50 day, 100 day, 150 day and 200 day moving averages.

The stock hit a 52 week low of Rs 5.70 on March 31, 2023 and a 52 week high of Rs 10.08 on September 13, 2022.

"Vodafone Idea will clear dues for the June 2023 quarter and spectrum instalment with applicable interest by September," said the PTI report.

Vodafone Idea had to pay a licence fee of around Rs 770 crore by July and Rs 1,680 crore as the first instalment for the spectrum it purchased in auctions that were held last year.

While the company has sought 30 days to clear the spectrum payment, the company is also gearing up to clear the licence fee payment by September.

The telecom operator's consolidated net loss widened to Rs 7,840 crore in the first quarter against a net loss of Rs 7,295.7 crore in the same period a year ago. Vodafone Idea's consolidated revenue from operations in Q1 rose marginally by 2.3 per cent to Rs 10,655.5 crore from Rs 10,406.8 crore reported in the June 2022 quarter.