Key Points
Prior to the latest Rs 300 crore payment, Vis past dues to Indus were estimated upwards of Rs 10,000 crore as per industry estimates...
Indus leadership, though, remained non-committal on dividend payouts amid improved collections from Vi, saying any board decision could be taken only by end-FY24, post-evaluation of collection trends and its impact on the tower companys free cash flow (FCF) situation...
We are working closely with this customer (read: Vi), making sure we are getting paid (regularly) and also have a recovery plan for the backlog of its past dues, Indus managing director Prachur Sah said on the tower companys December quarter earnings call Wednesday...
Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal had recently told ET on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos that Induss inability to recover its past dues from Vi was a serious situation, and that the tower companys minority shareholders had even complained about the Indus board being lax in recovering these dues...
Indus Towers had reported a Rs 1,541 crore net profit in the December quarter, FY24, propelled by strong tower additions amid top customer Bharti Airtels ongoing rural push and nationwide 5G roll out, steady collections from Vi and sharp on-year fall in net finance costs..
