Synopsis
On March 26, Bharti Airtel, along with Bharti Hexacom Ltd, paid Rs 5,985 crore to the Department of Telecom, fully settling high-cost liabilities linked to the 2024 auctions. The telecom giant continues to enhance its financial position by prepaying significant debts ahead of schedule.Key Takeaways
- Bharti Airtel prepaid Rs 5,985 crore to the government.
- High-cost liabilities of 8.65% related to 2024 auctions are fully settled.
- Total prepaid liabilities for FY 2025 now stand at Rs 25,981 crore.
- Airtel has reduced its debt cost to an average of 7.22%.
- Network i2i Limited redeemed $1 billion in perpetual notes.
New Delhi, March 26 (NationPress) Bharti Airtel announced on Wednesday that it, along with its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom Ltd, has prepaid an extra Rs 5,985 crore to the Department of Telecom, thereby completely settling the high-cost interest liabilities of 8.65 percent related to the 2024 auctions.
The company's subsidiary Network i2i Ltd. also voluntarily called and redeemed $1 billion in Perpetual Notes, as stated in a company announcement.
The telecom provider confirmed that it has now prepaid Rs 25,981 crore of high-cost spectrum liabilities for the ongoing 2025 fiscal year, and has cumulatively settled spectrum liabilities amounting to Rs 66,665 crore to date.
The average interest rate on the total liabilities prepaid was around 9.74 percent. Previously, Airtel had completely prepaid obligations with interest rates of 10 percent, 9.75 percent, and 9.3 percent.
These prepayments have been made approximately 7 years ahead of their average residual maturities, according to the company.
"The prepayments have led to Airtel clearing Rs 116,405 crore of scheduled instalments that would have been due on their respective dates over the original duration of the liabilities," it noted.
As a result of these payments, Airtel has reduced its cost of debt on spectrum liabilities to an average of around 7.22 percent on the remaining Rs 52,000 crore of spectrum liabilities (excluding Adjusted Gross Revenue or AGR liabilities).
The remaining spectrum liabilities have a long repayment timeline, with annual instalments due until FY 2042.
Furthermore, Airtel’s subsidiary Network i2i Limited has voluntarily exercised a call option and redeemed $1 billion in USD Perpetual Notes issued in FY 2020, which otherwise had no set maturity and an interest rate of 5.65 percent.
“After redeeming the $1 billion in perpetual notes, Airtel will have around $479 million of perpetual notes outstanding, which were issued during FY 2021. These notes can be called in FY 2026," stated the company.
