Airtel can withstand Rs 35,586 crore AGR payout: Moody’s Investor Service

Bharti AirtelNSE -1.04 % can withstand a potential Rs 35,586 crore ($5 billion) payout towards its statutory adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues in the afterglow of its recent $3 billion fundraise that has boosted the telco’s liquidity position, Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday.

“Following recent capital-raisings, we estimate (Bharti) India operations’ cash is over $5 billion, which can be used to fund the final AGR payment by March 17,” the global ratings company said in a statement.

The $5 billion cash payment, it said, will not cause significant deterioration in Airtel’s credit quality, although available cash on balance sheet for the India operation will be substantially reduced. “We estimate leverage of around 5.5x for (Bharti Airtel) India for fiscal year ending March 2020, and consolidated leverage will be around 4.4x, within our tolerance range for the current Ba1 rating,” Moody’s said.