Shares of Airtel and Vi hit a new high

Shares of telecom services provider were in demand on Wednesday with Bharti Airtel hitting a new high of Rs 1,479.50 as its stock rallied 4.5 per cent on the BSE in intraday trade.

Shares of Vodafone Idea (VIL), too, hit a 52-week high of Rs 18.47, surging 7 per cent amid heavy volumes. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 18.42 touched on January 1.

Reliance Industries (RIL) was also up nearly 4 per cent to Rs 3,015 in intraday trade. The stock of the country’s most valuable company, in terms of market capitalisation, was trading close to its record high level of Rs 3,029.90 touched on June 3. Jio Platforms runs India’s largest mobile network operator Reliance Jio.

Vodafone Idea Ltd
An auction of radio waves that carry voice and data signals for mobile phones ended within two days on Wednesday, garnering less than 12 per cent of the Rs 96,238 crore minimum values that the government had estimated for the spectrum on offer.

Analysts at BNP Paribas, in May 2024 telecom report, had said that they expected the industry growth rate to accelerate in coming quarters led by tariff hikes which, coupled with moderation in subscriber churn, should augur well for the margins in FY25. Additionally, the brokerage firm expects capex to moderate, which should lead to stronger free cash flow (FCF) generation.

Meanwhile, the stock price of VIL has been rallying over the past eight trading days after the company’s management said VIL is all set to participate in the industry growth with right investments to expand its 4G coverage and offer 5G experience to its customers while remaining focused on its execution capabilities.

“As VIL embarks on its growth journey, support from key stakeholders is critical and the agreement with Nokia and Ericsson reaffirms these vendors as long-term partners of the Company, and sets the stage for the next phase of our growth,” the management added.

VIL raised roughly Rs 24,000 crore of equity including conversion of 1,440 optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) in March 2024 by ATC India (out of 1,600 OCDs issued), follow on public offer (FPO) issue in April 2024 and preferential issue to promoters in May 2024.

Global broking firm UBS believes the market is pricing in 15-20 per cent mobile price increase in coming 12-24 months for Vi. The foreign brokerage said a relief in the form of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) reduction by the Supreme Court or equity conversion, moratoriums by the government is highly likely, especially given the government’s stated objective of ensuring three viable private telcos.

In the last few years, the telecom industry has witnessed consolidation in favour of the top 2 operators, as VIL was unable to make investments in network. However, the recent fundraise by VIL is expected to make the sector more balanced. While this can limit market share gain potential for both Airtel and JIO, analysts at BNP Paribas said.

They expect the three operators to prioritise improvement in their return on capital by raising tariffs. Even as VIL resumes its network investments, the brokerage firm believes the period of tariff competition is now behind. Business Standard