AGR woes: Airtel, Voda Idea post a combined Rs 74,000 crore loss in Q2

NEW DELHI: Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel on Thursday reported a whopping combined loss of nearly Rs 74,000 crore in the September quarter as the leading telecom players were hit by statutory dues arising from a recent Supreme Court ruling.nnWhile Vodafone Idea posted a loss of Rs 50,921 crore — the highest-ever quarterly loss by any corporate in India — Airtel reported loss to the tune of Rs 23,045 crore.nnIn 2018 December quarter, Tata Motors logged biggest quarterly loss of Rs 26,961 crore.nnVodafone Idea and Airtel have made provisions for their liabilities arising from the Supreme Court order in their latest September quarter results.nnThe apex court has upheld the government’s position on including revenue from non-telecommunication businesses in calculating the annual Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) of telecom companies, a share of which has to be paid as licence and spectrum fee to the exchequer.nnStung by colosal losses, Vodafone Idea said its ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on obtaining relief from the government and positive outcome of the proposed legal remedy.nnThe company is also in the process of filing a review petition against the Supreme Court order.nnVodafone Idea has estimated a liability of Rs 44,150 crore post the apex court order, and made a provision of Rs 25,680 crore in the second quarter of the current fiscal.nnThe company said it has “accounted for the estimated liability of Rs 27,610 crore related to license fee and Rs 16,540 crore related to Spectrum Usage Charges up to September 30, 2019, including the interest, penalty and interest… of Rs 3,3010 crore”.nnIn the second quarter of 2018-19, Vodafone Idea reported Rs 4,874 crore loss.nnThe company’s revenue in the three months ended September 2019 rose 42 per cent to Rs 11,146.4 crore.nnMeanwhile, Bharti Airtel posted a staggering Rs 23,045 crore net loss in the latest September quarter due to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling.nnThe company said its net loss were on account of exceptional charge pertaining to provisioning of Rs 28,450 crore towards the AGR dues, that included 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.nnAirtel CEO for India and South Asia, Gopal Vittal hoped that the government will take a considerate view on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) matter given the “fragile state of the industry”.nn”On the AGR verdict of the Supreme Court, we continue to engage with the government and are evaluating various options available to us,” he said.nnThe consolidated revenue of Bharti Airtel was up by 4.7 per cent at Rs 21,199 crore in the just-ended quarter.nnAs per latest estimates by Department of Telecommunications, Bharti Airtel faces a liability of around Rs 62,187 crore (including share of Tata Group of companies and Telenor India), while Vodafone Idea may have to pay about Rs 54,184 crore.nnThe remaining liability is with state-owned BSNL/ MTNL and some of the shut/ bankrupt telecom companies.nnOn Wednesday, the DoT shot off notice to telecom operators to pay their revenue share dues within three months as directed by the Supreme Court.nnThe DoT has given option to telecom operators to clear all the dues on self-assessment basis.nnSource: Press Trust of India