Idea Cellular stock slumps nearly 5% on spectrum debt

Idea Cellular stock slumped nearly 5 per cent on Friday, weighed down by spectrum debt.

Idea's total spectrum bid stood at about Rs 30,100 crore, due to which its standalone net debt jumped by 70 per cent to nearly
Rs 18,500 crore after auction payouts, according to analysts.

Analysts also said that they expected Idea's net debt to operating profit ratio to increase from 1.1 times to nearly 4 times.

Shares of the telecom operator closed at Rs 171.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex, down 4.96 per cent or 8.95 points.

Shares of other telecom operators also declined on the domestic bourses. Bharti Airtel shares ended down 5.6 per cent, while stocks of Reliance Communications closed 3.56 per cent lower.

(Reuters)