Vodafone Idea posts highest-ever loss by an Indian firm at Rs 73,878 crore in FY20
New Delhi: Vodafone Idea, the country's third largest telecom operator, on Wednesday reported a staggering Rs 73,878 crore of net loss in fiscal ended March 2020 - the highest ever by any Indian firm - after it provisioned for Supreme Court mandated statutory dues.
The firm, which has to pay Rs 51,400 crore dues after the apex court ordered the non-telecom revenues to be included in calculating statutory dues, said the liability has "cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern".
In a regulatory filing, Vodafone Idea (VIL) reported widening of March quarter net loss to Rs 11,643.5 crore. Its losses stood at Rs 4,881.9 crore in the same period a year ago and Rs 6,438.8 crore in previous October-December quarter.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) estimates the firm's adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues at Rs 58,254 crore for period up to FY 2016-17, but the company put the dues at Rs 46,000 crore "after adjustment of certain computational errors and payments made in the past not considered in the DoT demand."
Of the total dues, it has made a payment of Rs 6,854.4 crore.
The company took a hit of Rs 1,783.6 crore on account of AGR-related liabilities, and Rs 3,887 crore on account of one-time spectrum charges (OTSC), both of which were recognised as exceptional items during the quarter ended March 2019.
Revenue from operations for the just-ended quarter came in at Rs 11,754.2 crore. For the full year FY20, losses ballooned to Rs 73,878.1 crore. Vodafone Idea's losses stood at Rs 14,603.9 crore in FY19.
The company said that the financial results for the year ended March 31, 2020, are not comparable to those reported for the same period of the preceding year (merger between Vodafone India and Idea Cellular had taken effect in August 2018).
The revenue from operations for full year FY20 stood at Rs 44,957.5 crore. The same was Rs 37,092.5 crore in FY19.
In a statement, the company said that the revenue had witnessed strong growth of six per cent quarter-on-quarter, driven by prepaid tariff hike effective December 2019.
Ravinder Takkar, MD and CEO, Vodafone Idea said Our focus on rapid network integration, as well as 4G coverage and capacity expansion, has further improved customer experience.
We thus continue to lead the league tables on 4G data download speeds across several states, metros and large cities. We have achieved our full opex merger synergy target."
He added that the next Supreme Court hearing on AGR matter is scheduled to be held in the third week of July.
"Meanwhile, we continue to actively engage with the government seeking a comprehensive relief package for the industry, which faces critical challenges," he said.
Gross debt (excluding lease liabilities) as on March 31, 2020, was Rs 1,15,000 crore including deferred spectrum payment obligations due to the government of Rs 87,650 crore.
"The network integration is in final stages of completion but has been impacted by the nationwide lockdown due to COVID-19. As of date, we have completed network integration in 92 per cent of total districts," the company added.
Due to the continuation of nationwide lockdown, the remaining consolidation is expected to take longer than initially expected, it said.
Its subscriber base eroded to 291 million in March quarter from 304 million in December quarter. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for Q4 improved to Rs 121 versus Rs 109 in Q3FY20, driven by the prepaid tariff hike effective from December 2019.
Vodafone Idea maintained it plans to monetise its 11.15 per cent stake in Indus Towers on completion of the Indus-Infratel merger. VIL said that is no material impact of the pandemic on its overall performance, but it continues to monitor the situation closely.
On AGR dues, the company said that it has recognised a total estimated liability of Rs 46,000 crore.
"The total estimated liability of Rs 460,000 million stands reduced as at 31 March, 2020 to the extent of payment (Rs 68,544 million) made...," the company said in a BSE filing.
With regard to OTSC levy, it said that Rs 3,890 crore has been recognised as exceptional item during the quarter.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
