Vodafone Idea gains 12% ahead of board meet to consider fundraising proposals

In a filing to the stock exchanges on Thursday, the company said that its Board of Directors will meet on February 27 to consider proposals to raise funds in one or more tranches through equity or debt instruments.

“We wish to inform you that a meeting of the Board of Directors of Vodafone Idea Limited (the Company) will be held on Tuesday i.e. February 27, 2024, inter alia, to consider and evaluate any proposals for raising funds in one or more tranches by way of a rights issue, further public offer, private placement including preferential allotment, qualified institutions placement or through any other permissible mode and/or combination thereof as may be considered appropriate," Vodafone Idea informed the bourses.

After the announcement, shares of Vodafone Idea surged nearly 12% to an intraday high of ₹18.3 apiece on NSE. The stock was trading at ₹18.25, up 11.96%, on NSE at 12:31 PM. Vodafone Idea shares have gained over 23% in the last month and more than 128% in the last 6 months.

The struggling telecom operator received a respite in the financial performance report for the December 2023 quarter as it narrowed its losses by 12.56%. From ₹ 7,990 crores in the year-ago period, Vodafone Idea's net loss came down to ₹6,985.9 in Q3FY24.

The company's revenue during the same period was up 0.49% from ₹10,621 crore in the third quarter of FY23 to ₹ 10,673 crore in Q3FY24.

Its EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin grew by 140 bps to 40.8% in the period under review from 39.4%in the previous fiscal.

Vodafone Idea Limited is India's third-largest telecom company but has been struggling to retain its customers for quite some time now. The company lost 13.68 lakh wireless subscribers in December 2023 to Jio and Airtel, revealed TRAI data.

The company's overall subscriber base was 215.2 million on December 31, 2023.