Vodafone Idea share price falls 4% even as company discloses plans of meeting institutional investors

Vodafone Idea shares declined nearly 4% on Thursday, March 12, tracking the sharp losses in the broader Nifty 50 index, even as the company said it will meet institutional investors next week, which appears to be an effort to tap new funding.

Vodafone Idea share price hit the day's low of ₹9.35 on the BSE in early trade as against the last closing price of ₹9.71, shedding 3.7%.

The telecom company, in an exchange filing on March 11, said it will meet institutional investors in Singapore on 16 March and in Hong Kong on 17 March.

While the company has not explicitly disclosed the details of these one-on-one and group meetings, there are indications that it may explore raising new funds.

Earlier in January, the company unveiled a ₹45,000-crore capital expenditure plan under its Vi 2.0 strategy, and said it is targeting double-digit revenue growth, a three-fold increase in operating profit, and sustained subscriber additions over the next three years.

As Mint reported, the telecom operator is looking to raise ₹25,000 crore in bank funding and ₹10,000 crore in non-funded facilities to support the capex plan.

The company said the proposed investment of ₹45,000 crore, combined with the ₹18,000 crore spent over the past six quarters, would take the company’s total network investment to over ₹60,000 crore over a four-and-a-half-year period.

Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea raised ₹3,300 crore through a subsidiary via non-convertible debentures during the December quarter of the current financial year.

As per a company statement on 27 January, as on 31 December, the telecom company owed about ₹1,126 crore to banks.

Vodafone Idea share price trend

As per BSE data, Vodafone Idea's share price has jumped 31% over the last six months, compared to a 6% fall in the equity benchmark Sensex.

On a monthly scale, however, the beleaguered telecom stock has lost over 8% in March so far after faling 5% in February.

The stock hit a 52-week high of ₹12.80 on December 31 after hitting a 52-week low of ₹6.12 on August 14 last year.

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