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由于沃达丰Idea付款不确定，Indus的坏账准备可能会上升
然而，Indus的领导团队没有说明该公司将等待多长时间，也没有说明如果Vi没有满足其承诺的更高付款计划(2023年1月生效)，该公司董事会将考虑采取潜在行动的性质。
在周三的季度财报电话会议上，印度河最高管理层说，公司董事会正在密切关注陷入困境的电信支付模式，如果支付不能无限期实现，将在运营方面采取适当行动。
然而，Indus的领导团队没有说明该公司将等待多长时间，也没有说明如果Vi没有满足其承诺的更高付款计划(2023年1月生效)，该公司董事会将考虑采取潜在行动的性质。
Indus不得不在12月季度为可疑债务拨备229.81亿卢比，此前Vi表示，从1月份开始，在履行未来更高的支付承诺方面可能存在挑战。由于收集一些长期会费的不确定性，它还收取了49.3亿卢比的额外费用(用于Vi会费的收入平衡准备金减值)。这些导致Indus在第三财季净亏损7.08亿卢比。
行业然而，高管和分析师表示，如果没有按照双方商定的计划向Vi收取会费，Indus有多种选择向Vi发出强烈的信息，要求其付款，包括减少塔楼公司的服务，甚至关闭对一些塔楼的访问。
“未来可能会有更多的规定……这完全取决于这个特定客户的收款方式(阅读:Vi)……它没有分享任何修订后的付款计划;因此，我们希望目前的付款计划(条款)能够指导我们，”Indus Towers首席财务官维卡斯·波达尔在该公司的收益电话会议上表示。
Poddar称，"能否实施更高的付款计划，取决于客户能否完成尚未完成的融资…情况非常动态，每周都在变化，我们将在未来的具体行动上听取Indus董事会的指导。"
10月至12月期间的巨额拨备也导致Indus的利息、税项、折旧和摊销前综合收益(Ebitda)同比下降68%至1186亿卢比。
Vi已承诺从1月起向Indus清算100%的当前会费，并从本月开始在7个月内支付截至2022年12月31日的欠款。Vi在2022年12月之前支付了所需的部分款项。
这位首席财务官驳斥了外界对Indus可能免除Vi的利息支付的担忧，称该铁塔公司实际上已经从现金紧张的客户那里收取了一些延迟付款的利息。
不过，分析师们断言，亏损的Vi的健康状况对Indus的长期财务稳定至关重要。这是因为Vi占印度河收入的40%以上。科塔克据估计，由于Vi的现金短缺，该大厦全年总收入的10%可能面临风险。
ICICI Direct表示:“作为服务提供商，Vi和Indus的收款延迟(在我们看来，超过35%的收入)仍然是令人担忧的关键领域……我们仍然对整体前景保持警惕，直到Vi的收款情况有所改善，并寻求Indus收款措施的明确。”
印度河公司在23财年第三季度净亏损7.08亿卢比
Indus在财报中表示:“上述客户(读作:Vi)的融资计划尚未实现，尽管已收到截至12月(2022年)的承诺部分付款，但客户表示在未来遵守更高的付款计划方面存在挑战。”
经纪公司科塔克最近估计Vi对印度河的总会费约为75亿卢比。反过来，行业高管估计，Vi每月向铁塔公司缴纳的费用超过30亿卢比。
Vi通过债务和股权组合筹集约20亿卢比的努力一年多来也没有成功。最近，印度曾试探银行筹集约700亿卢比，以清理大量印度河欠款。
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<\/figure><\/strong>Kolkata: Indus Towers<\/a> has signalled there may be further additions to its provisions for doubtful debt in coming quarters with no revised payment plan forthcoming from its key cash-strapped customer, believed to be Vodafone Idea<\/a> (Vi). At its quarterly earnings call on Wednesday, Indus<\/a>\u2019 top management said the company\u2019s board is closely monitoring the struggling telco\u2019s payment patterns, and would take appropriate action on the operations front if payments don\u2019t materialise indefinitely.
Indus\u2019 leadership team, though, did not spell out how long the company would wait or on the nature of potential action that the towerco's board would consider if Vi doesn\u2019t meet its committed higher payment plan, effective January 2023.
<\/div><\/div>Indus shares closed 7.36% lower at Rs 157.95 on BSE Wednesday, plunging nearly 9% intra-day amid worries around the tower company recovering its money from Vi.
Indus had to make a hefty Rs 2,298.1 crore provision towards doubtful debt in December quarter after Vi indicated likely challenges in meeting its future higher payment commitments from January. It also took an exceptional charge of Rs 493 crore (towards impairment of revenue equalisation reserve for Vi\u2019s dues) amid uncertainty around collecting some long-term dues. These resulted in Indus reporting a Rs 708 crore net loss in the fiscal third quarter.
Industry<\/a> executives and analysts, however, said Indus has multiple options to send a strong message to Vi to pay up, including reducing the towerco's services or even shutting down access to some towers, going forward, if dues collections from Vi don\u2019t happen as per the mutually agreed plan.
\u201cThere may be more provisions in future\u2026 it entirely depends on how collections happen from this specific customer (read: Vi)\u2026 it has not shared any revised payment plan; so we expect the current payment plan (terms) to guide us,\u201d Indus Towers CFO Vikas Poddar said at the tower company\u2019s earnings call.
Indus had to make a hefty Rs 2,298.1 crore provision towards doubtful debt in December quarter after Vi indicated likely challenges in meeting its future higher payment commitments from January. It also took an exceptional charge of Rs 493 crore (towards impairment of revenue equalisation reserve for Vi\u2019s dues) amid uncertainty around collecting some long-term dues. These resulted in Indus reporting a Rs 708 crore net loss in the fiscal third quarter.
Industry<\/a> executives and analysts, however, said Indus has multiple options to send a strong message to Vi to pay up, including reducing the towerco's services or even shutting down access to some towers, going forward, if dues collections from Vi don\u2019t happen as per the mutually agreed plan.
\u201cThere may be more provisions in future\u2026 it entirely depends on how collections happen from this specific customer (read: Vi)\u2026 it has not shared any revised payment plan; so we expect the current payment plan (terms) to guide us,\u201d Indus Towers CFO Vikas Poddar said at the tower company\u2019s earnings call.
<\/div><\/div>He added that the senior management is constantly discussing the situation, including contingency plans, with the Indus board, which would take appropriate action based on how the struggling customer (read: Vi) activates the higher payment plan.
\u201cImplementation of the higher payment plan depends on the customer closing its pending fundraise\u2026 the situation is extremely dynamic, changing every week, and we will take guidance from the Indus board on specific future action,\u201d Poddar said.
The hefty provisioning in the October-December period also triggered a 68% on-year fall in Indus\u2019 consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation & amortization (Ebitda) to Rs 1,186 crore.
Vi has committed to clear 100% of its current dues to Indus from January onwards, and also pay its outstanding as of December 31, 2022, over a seven month period, starting this month. Vi made the required part-payment till December 2022.
The CFO dismissed concerns around Indus potentially waiving off interest payments for Vi, saying the tower company had actually collected some interest on delayed payments from its cash-strapped customer.
Analysts, though, assert that the health of loss-making Vi is critical for Indus\u2019 long-term financial stability. This, since Vi accounts for over 40% of Indus revenue. Kotak<\/a> estimates that as much as 10% of the towerco\u2019s annual overall revenue could be at risk due to Vi\u2019s cash shortfall.
\u201cCollection delays from Vi and Indus\u2019s exposure as a service provider (35%+ revenues, in our view) remains the key area of concern\u2026 we remain watchful on the overall prospects until there is an improvement in dues collections from Vi, and seek clarity on Indus\u2019s measure to collect it,\u201d ICICI Direct said.
\u201cImplementation of the higher payment plan depends on the customer closing its pending fundraise\u2026 the situation is extremely dynamic, changing every week, and we will take guidance from the Indus board on specific future action,\u201d Poddar said.
The hefty provisioning in the October-December period also triggered a 68% on-year fall in Indus\u2019 consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation & amortization (Ebitda) to Rs 1,186 crore.
Vi has committed to clear 100% of its current dues to Indus from January onwards, and also pay its outstanding as of December 31, 2022, over a seven month period, starting this month. Vi made the required part-payment till December 2022.
The CFO dismissed concerns around Indus potentially waiving off interest payments for Vi, saying the tower company had actually collected some interest on delayed payments from its cash-strapped customer.
Analysts, though, assert that the health of loss-making Vi is critical for Indus\u2019 long-term financial stability. This, since Vi accounts for over 40% of Indus revenue. Kotak<\/a> estimates that as much as 10% of the towerco\u2019s annual overall revenue could be at risk due to Vi\u2019s cash shortfall.
\u201cCollection delays from Vi and Indus\u2019s exposure as a service provider (35%+ revenues, in our view) remains the key area of concern\u2026 we remain watchful on the overall prospects until there is an improvement in dues collections from Vi, and seek clarity on Indus\u2019s measure to collect it,\u201d ICICI Direct said.