Vodafone writes down Vi investment to nil

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Ever since India’s top two telcos,  Jio and Airtel, started deploying 5G, they have added 14 million and 7 million mobile broadband users till February 2023, respectively, as per data collated by Trai. In the same period, Vi added just one million users. This has set off alarm bells with analysts saying this could be a precursor to heavier customer churn in coming months amid Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio’s fast-paced countrywide 5G rollouts. Cash-strapped Vi has not yet announced its 5G rollout timelines while Jio and Airtel have been swiftly expanding their 5G networks from October. Further, while pegging the value of its stake in Vodafone Idea at zero, London-based Vodafone Group said the Indian company still needs additional liquidity to survive. It said there are significant uncertainties in VIL’s ability to make payments of remaining liabilities and it is unlikely that any payment will come from Vodafone group. Vodafone Group owns 32.29 per cent stake in VIL while Aditya Birla group owns 18.07 per cent stake in VIL after the government picked up 33 per cent stake in the loss-making company.

LIC stock loses 40% since listing A year after hitting the markets with an initial public offering (IPO), shares of Life Insurance Corporation closed at ₹570 on Wednesday, nearly 40 per cent below the issue price of Rs 949. The insurance company has lost close to Rs 2-lakh crore in market capitalisation since listing. Last May, the insurer sold over 22.13 crore shares to raise ₹21,000 crore at Rs 949/share. In more news, Life Insurance Corporation’s new business premium fell by 50.41 percent year-on-year to Rs 5,810.1 crore in April 2023 over last year because of a massive decline in group single premium.

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