Bharti Airtel Prepays Rs 8,465 Crore To Clear Liabilities For Spectrum Acquired In 2016

Bharti Airtel Ltd. on Monday said it has prepaid Rs 8,465 crore to the government to "clear high cost deferred liabilities" for spectrum acquired in 2016.

"These liabilities carried an interest rate of 9.3%," the company said in an exchange filing, which is the country's second largest telecom operator.

The disclosure comes days after telecom companies faced a setback from the Supreme Court, which rejected the plea seeking re-computation of adjusted gross revenue dues by the Department of Telecom.

The telecom operators sought the calculation of AGR dues on the basis of their core revenue, as against the current mechanism under which their non-telecom revenue is also taken into account. However, the apex court ruled against their petition on Sept. 19.

Bharti Airtel is believed to owe AGR dues of Rs 43,980 crore to the telecom department, against its own calculation of Rs 13,004 crore, NDTV had reported on the day when the top court's judgment was out.

Shares of Bharti Airtel edged lower on Monday, in line with the decline in the benchmark indices. At 3:08 pm, the stock was trading 1.46% lower at Rs 1,709.35 apiece on the NSE, compared to a 1.42% decline in the benchmark Nifty 50.

The stock has risen by around 65.6% so far this year and 84.8% in the last 12 months. The total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.76 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 64.5.

Out of 33 analysts tracking the company, 25 have a 'buy' rating on the stock, six suggest a 'hold' and two have a 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average of 12-month analyst price targets implies a potential downside of 4.3%.