Bharti Airtel suffered a record loss of Rs 23,045 crore in the September quarter as the company had to set aside a lumpsum to pay its revenue share dues to the government following a Supreme Court order last month.
The loss is more than eight times the June quarter’s loss of Rs 2,866 crore.
Bharti Airtel has provided for Rs 28,450 crore as a charge to pay for the licence fee based on the judgment and spectrum use charges based on the definition of adjusted gross revenue (AGR). This included a principal of Rs 6,164 crore, interest of Rs 12,219 crore, penalty of Rs 3,760 crore, and interest on penalty of Rs 6,307 crore.
“In the absence of available reliefs, the company has provided for an additional amount of Rs 16,815 crore (principal of Rs 3,207 crore, interest of Rs 7,000 crore, penalty of Rs 2,492 crore, and interest on penalty of Rs 4,116 crore) with respect to the licence fee payable,’’ Airtel said.
An amount of Rs 11,635 crore (principal of Rs 2,957 crore, interest of Rs 5219 crore penalty of Rs 1,268 crore, and interest on penalty of Rs 2,191 crore) with respect to spectrum charges, based on the definition of AGR, has also been provided.
According to an internal estimate prepared by the DoT, the liability of Bharti Airtel is Rs 62,187.73 crore. So questions remain as to how the company will rustle up the total amount needed to clear its dues within the next three months.
Airtel pointed out that it believes spectrum use charge should be levied only on the AGR earned from wireless access subscribers or services.
“We are hopeful that the government will take a considerate view given the fragile state of the industry,’’ Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, India & South Asia, said while commenting on the AGR impact.
The quarter saw consolidated revenues of bharti Airtel coming at Rs 21,131 crore- a growth of 6.9 per cent over the same period last year. The company added that its India revenues during the period at Rs 15,361 crore increased by 5.7 per cent over last year.
Singtel, the biggest shareholder in Bharti Airtel, also suffered a loss of $491.29 million because of the one-time charge recorded by Airtel
The Airtel scrip fell 1.59 per cent to Rs 362.65, down Rs 5.85, on the BSE ahead of the results.