Shares of Vodafone Idea nosedived over 29 per cent in intra-day trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), hitting its lowest level in twelve years, on Monday after the telecom major reported disappointing earnings for the June quarter. The stock, which has already been trading below its face value of Rs 10, has been on a selling spree due to poor earnings and higher debt.

The Kumar Mangalam Birla-led telecom operator had posted consolidated net loss to Rs 4,873.9 crore during the first quarter ended June 30, 2019 from a net loss of Rs 4,881.9 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 5,004.6 crore in the December quarter.

The company's revenue declined to Rs 11,269.9 crore during the June quarter as against Rs 11,775 crore in the previous quarter, due to the churn of customers who recharged with 'service validity vouchers'.

The consolidated financial result for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, are not comparable with previous year's figures as the merger of Vodafone India and Idea Cellular was completed on August 31, 2018.

As of June 30, 2019, gross debt of the company stood at Rs 1.20 lakh crore, including deferred spectrum payment obligations due to the government of Rs 89,180 crore but excluding lease liabilities.

Weighed down by disappointing Q1, Vodafone Idea share price declined as much as 29.08 per cent to touch a fresh 52-week low of Rs 6.56 apiece on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after making a bearish start at Rs 9. By the time of reporting, the scrip was trading at Rs 7, down 24.32 per cent.

Also Read: Vodafone Idea Q1 loss narrows marginally to Rs 4,873.9 crore, revenue declines on subscriber loss

The stock witnessing a huge surge in volume trade with 426.62 lakh shares changed hand over the counter as compared to their 2-week average trade volume of 303.78 lakh shares.

On the National Stock Exchange, Vodafone Idea share was trading at Rs 23.78 apiece, down 7.05 per cent as compared to the previous closing price of Rs 9.25. The stock opened lower at Rs 8.75 and touched a fresh 52-week low of Rs 6.55 during the day's trade.

Adding the woes, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has pipped Vodafone Idea to become the country's largest telecom operator with a subscriber base of 33.13 crore. Vodafone Idea on Friday reported a decline in its customer base to 32 crore in the first quarter of 2019-20 from 33.41 crore in the March quarter.

Also Read: Reliance Jio becomes largest telecom operator in India within 3 years of starting operations

The company's revenue drop was accompanied by a decline in subscriber base (-1.4 crore quarter-on-quarter), total minutes (-3.8%) and 4G net-adds (0.41 crore vs 0.54 crore in 4Q), and a negligible 0.03 crore increase in mobile broadband (MBB) subscribers.

Brokerage J M Financial has issued a new target price of Rs 8.0 and has recommended "Hold" rating on the stock.

Edited by Chitranjan Kumar