Shares of Indus Towers fell to a more than two-year low of Rs 162.80 in intraday trade on Wednesday, down 5%, after posting a net loss of Rs 708 crore in the third quarter (October-December) financial year (Q3FY23). This was due to a provision for doubtful debts of Rs 2,201 crore and special charges of Rs 493 crore.

The company posted a net profit of Rs 872 crore in the September quarter (Q2FY23).

Indus Tower said in a statement that the loss of books was due to continued shortfalls from significant customers and that the company applies strict accounting practices.

The stock hit its lowest level since October 2020. The stock fell 14% in January, compared with a 0.63% drop for the S&P BSE Sensex. Indus Towers traded 1% lower at Rs 169.15 at 9:21 am, while the benchmark index fell 0.32%.

In Q3FY23, the company’s revenue fell 12.7% QoQ and 5% YoY to Rs 6,765 crore. The reported EBITDA decreased 68.6% YoY to Rs 1,163 crore, and the EBITDA margin fell 36 percentage points YoY to 17.2%. The company has a dubious debt of Rs 2,270 crore over Vodafone Idea’s dues.

Indus Towers is India’s leading passive telecom infrastructure provider, deploying, owning and managing telecom towers and communication structures for various mobile operators.

The company has more than 187,000 telecom towers, making it one of the largest tower infrastructure providers in the country, with a presence in all 22 telecom circles. Indus Towers caters to all wireless telecommunication service providers in India.