Vodafone Idea, the beleaguered telecom giant, on Thursday reported a loss of Rs 50,921.90 crore in the second quarter ended September 30 — arguably the biggest-ever quarterly loss that any Indian corporate has ever reported — after recognising a charge of Rs 25,680 crore as an exceptional item to cover a part of the telecom dues it owes the government.
The loss in the quarter under review is more than 10 times the Rs 4,874-crore loss in the June quarter of 2019. The loss in the same quarter last year was Rs 4,973.80 crore.
The company estimated its liability on account of licence fee dues at Rs 27,610 crore and spectrum use charges up to September 30 this year at Rs 16,540 crore — adding up to a liability of Rs 44,150 crore.
In its notes to accounts, Vodafone Idea warned that its ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on obtaining reliefs from the government and the positive outcome of a proposed legal remedy.
On October 24, the Supreme Court had ordered the legacy telecom companies to pay all their dues to the government within three months.
Vodafone Idea, which said it was in the process of filing a review petition before the Supreme Court, has been pressing for a waiver of the interest, penalty and interest on penalty on its telecom dues. It said these taken together accounted for Rs 33,010 crore.
The telecom company, through industry body COAI, has urged the government to grant a two-year moratorium on repayment of dues up to March 31, 2021 and permission to pay the sum in instalments.
Vodafone Group had announced that it had written down the value of its 45.2 per cent stake in Vodafone Idea to zero and did not plan to make any further investments in the company.
Consolidated revenues have declined 3.9 per cent on trailing quarter basis to Rs 10,844 crore from Rs 11,269.9 crore in the June quarter. Gross debt stood at Rs 1,17,300 crore, including deferred spectrum payment obligations of Rs 89,170 crore.
Though the results were announced after market hours, shares of Vodafone Idea nosedived over 20 per cent to Rs 2.95 on the BSE amid reports that the the DoT has issued a notice to operators to pay their dues within three months. CEO Nick Read’s comments on the company’s future weighed on sentiments too.