Indus Towers Ltd
NSE:INDUSTOWER
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Indus Towers Ltd
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Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Rajitha, the moderator for this conference.
Welcome to the Indus Towers Limited Fourth Quarter Ended March 31, 2022, Earnings Call. [Operator Instructions] In case of a natural disaster, the conference call will be terminated post an announcement. Present with this on the call today is the senior leadership team of Indus Towers, Mr. Bimal Dayal, MD and CEO; Mr. Vikas Poddar, CFO; and Mr. Dheeraj Agarwal, Head, Investor Relations.
Before I hand over the call, I must remind you that the overview and discussions today may include certain forward-looking statements that must be viewed in conjunction with the risks that we face.
I now hand over the call to our first speaker of the day, Mr. Bimal Dayal. Thank you, and over to you, Mr. Dayal.
Thank you, Rajitha. Good afternoon, everyone, a very warm welcome to each one of you. Thank you for joining us on the earnings call of Indus Towers for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2022. Joining me today are my colleagues, Mr. Vikas Poddar, CFO; and Mr. Dheeraj Agarwal, Head, Investor Relations.
Let me start by taking each one of you briefly back in time. Well, most of you would remember that when we started the year, we were amidst the grip of the Delta variant of COVID. There were colleagues and families that were impacted. Despite this, true to our values, our field force maintained and also grew the network throughout the quarters, and I'm very proud of this fact and very proud of our field force.
Another -- remaining on the business of people and people matrices, I'm very happy to share that not only we consummated the merger in a very good way. We measured our employee satisfaction score, and I'm happy to report that our employee satisfaction score has gone up year-on-year from 4.49 to 4.62. This has been recognized through the Gallup Best Place to Work award for the ninth consecutive time. Very proud moment for all of us at Indus.
Another very important pillar is our customer. Despite the challenges of the year, we have improved our customer satisfaction score year-on-year, which is always a good measure to keep an eye on. Our score went up from 4.37 to 4.42, really a good measure, which is very directional as well.
On the regulatory side, the year gone by was a very eventful year. We saw developments from the government and operators, which benefited the industry participants and customers. Announcement of the relief package improved the liquidity situation in the industry and ensured continuity of operations from all major operators.
The operators also followed it by taking the tariff hike of about 20% in a consolidated manner to improve the financial health. Promoters of Vodafone Idea infused INR 45 billion in the company to improve its financial position. These developments have supported the intent of the telecom sectors remaining a 3-player market. I remember answering those questions during these earnings calls as well.
And we also did our bit by working with our customers and supporting in its capital raise plans by way of restructuring the pledge. The actions were also in our shareholders' interest by addressing the risk of loss of business too. Since the start of this year, I can say that we have made great strides as an enabler of connectivity.
On the demand side, our tower network makes it possible for crores of Indians to use telecom services and access to Internet, an essential lifeline in today's world. Data traffic in India remains almost the highest in the world. As per Nokia, India's MBiT Index of 2022, data consumption per user per month increased 27% year-on-year, 17 GB in December '21. The increase is not an anomaly. Data consumption per user per month is expected to grow further to 40 GB by 2026 with introduction of 5G as per Nokia report.
Overall data traffic also registered a small -- strong growth of 31% in 2021. The growth is underpinned by the continued migration to 4G, which contributes to 99% of data traffic. Launch of 5G services will only accelerate this data usage. On 5G, in view of potential of 5G technology to promote immense opportunities across sectors by accelerating digital connectivity, the Government of India is undertaking all necessary steps towards the faster rollout.
Ahead of government's plans to conduct the auction of 5G spectrum in June, July this year, TRAI released its recommendations about a month ago. We believe the recommendations are quite progressive and address the industry requirements. Reduction in reserve price across bands, easing of payment schedule, ample supply of spectrum, et cetera, vital recommendations, amidst this stretched financial situation of the industry. We are hopeful of a successful auction, which will facilitate a rapid rollout of 5G across country.
Indus being the leader in tower infrastructure in India will have a major role to play to drive 5G connectivity in the country. Globally also, we are witnessing a faster adoption of 5G services and a constant increase in number of 5G services providers.
As per Ericsson Mobility Report, global 5G subscriptions grew by 98 million in December quarter, which was considerably higher than the increase of 35 million in 4G subscription in the same quarter. Number of commercial 5G service providers also increased meaningfully from 180 in September to 200 in December last year. This is indeed an exciting event; we are all waiting for in the industry.
Now let me throw some light on operational and financial performance. From an operational performance standpoint, we had a balanced year in wake of a lot of developments and uncertainty in the sector. During the year, we had a net addition of 6,222 towers and 13,353 co-locations. Our total tower and co-locations at the end of the year were at 185,447 and 335,791, respectively, each growing by 3.5% and 4.1% on a year-on-year basis. During the fourth quarter of the financial year, we added 699 towers and 685 co-locations on a net basis. Our industry-leading tenancy ratio was stable at 1.81%.
As stated earlier during our earlier earnings call as well, the reported numbers do not include leaner towers or small cells and the corresponding tenancies. We plan to report these numbers in subsequent quarters to give a holistic view of our product portfolio. In line with our commentary last quarter, we have seen the demand for leaner towers and small cells increase considerably, and we have seen traction in our rollouts too. We see this shift to accelerate further with the impending 5G rollout, and we are well placed to cater to this demand as well.
A brief comment on the financial performance. Though we've had -- I'm sure you all have gone through the reported numbers and the financial numbers. Just a comment here, though, we had a few one-offs this quarter, our underlying performance remains robust in all parameters, including revenue, EBITDA and FCF. Vikas will actually take you through all these numbers in detail as well.
A couple of more points before I hand it over to Vikas. On MSA renewal, I think we have a good news to share. With regards to the renewal of our MSAs, we have closed the framework with one of our customers, and we are hopeful of closing it with the other customers too. The renewal of contracts has been concluded with a positive outcome for both the customer and Indus. We are benefited by securing a large part of our portfolio for a good 10 years' time. we have obtained visibility of revenue through long-term commitment from the customer.
We believe that any financial impact on Indus will be offset by incremental revenue from foreseeable future rollouts by the customers for its network expansion, launch of 5G services and other network solutions. We see this agreement in the long-term interest of business and a win-win.
Another important point, which I wanted to touch upon and Vikas will take you in detail as well, is the receivables. As part of our endeavor to resolve the receivable situation with our customer in an amicable way, we work with them in utilizing the security package to reduce the outstanding amount. This was done through Vodafone Plc selling the pledged shares and infusing the proceeds in VIL and VIL repaying its dues towards Indus, a requisite disclosures were made to this tune as well.
It's a reflection of mutual understanding between Indus and its customers. Through this arrangement, we've reduced our receivables and the customer secured funds as part of its capital raise. This also strengthened our relationship with customer and was aligned to our business interest for future operations.
Now changing topic. Let me talk about a very important initiative, which we've touched upon during the last quarter. That is ESG. Reiterating from our last quarter's earnings call, we remain committed to a sustainable future for all. Existence of this company and its operations over a decade is a testimony to its sustainable practices.
We now want to take the next step in our ESG journey. To start with, I'm very happy to report that we have completed materiality assessment by capturing the voice of our stakeholders and identified high priority areas across the environmental, social and governance dimensions.
We are now in the process of setting up our targets across these areas. Management is focused on driving initiatives to achieve these targets, and we hope to share our progress on key parameters in coming quarters. Our unwavering commitment to this ESG journey will create sustainable business and continue to generate value for all the stakeholders.
I will now request Vikas to take you through our operational and financial performance for the quarter and year ended March 31. I look forward to your questions. Over to you, Vikas, and thank you very much.
Thank you, Bimal, and a very good afternoon to all the participants on this call. I'm pleased to share with you the financial results of the fourth quarter and the year ended 31st March 2022.
So I'll start with the financial performance for the fourth quarter, and I'm happy to share that our reported revenues were up 9.6% year-on-year to INR 71.2 billion. Our core revenues from rentals grew 14.6% year-on-year to INR 47.4 billion. We had an impact of one-off provision reversals and tapering off of exit revenue in the fourth quarter, which I will explain after reporting the results. So if we adjust for these nonrecurring items, the gross revenue and the core rental revenue were up 4.1% and 4.8% year-on-year, respectively.
On a sequential quarter-on-quarter basis, our reported gross revenues and core revenues from rentals were up 7.9% and 2.7%, respectively. After adjusting for the nonrecurring items, the gross revenues were down 1% quarter-on-quarter, due to lower energy revenues on account of lower costs that were driven by seasonality and few other initiatives.
However, our core rental revenues were up 1.1% quarter-on-quarter, driven by the growth in towers and co-locations. Please note that this is also adjusted for one-off items in quarter 3 FY '22, which I had mentioned in the last quarter's earnings call.
Reported EBITDA grew 19.3% year-on-year to INR 40.7 billion, EBITDA margin was up by 4.6 percentage points year-on-year to 57.2%. Adjusted for nonrecurring items, EBITDA was up 9.9% year-on-year, mainly driven by revenue growth and better cost management.
Our reported profit after tax was significantly up by 34.1% year-on-year to INR 18.3 billion. Again, adjusted for nonrecurring items, our profit after tax was up 17.3% year-on-year.
Coming to the financial performance for full year FY '22. Our gross revenue grew 8% year-on-year to INR 277.2 billion. Within that, our core revenues grew 7.6% year-on-year, to INR 176.1 billion. Again, adjusted for nonrecurring items, gross revenues and core revenues were up 6.7% and 4.8% year-on-year, respectively.
We saw healthy growth in our profitability metrics with EBITDA growing at 12.7% to INR 149.4 billion, and profit after tax growing 28.1% to INR 63.7 billion. Adjusted for nonrecurring items, EBITDA and profit after tax were up 10.1% and 21.4% year-on-year, respectively.
Our free cash flow for the year was at INR 30 billion, which was impacted by an increase of INR 32 billion in our trade receivables. Our reported pretax return on capital employed and post-tax return on equity were up both on year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter basis to 25.7% and 33.5%, respectively.
Let me now explain the nonrecurring items, which affected the reported numbers in this quarter. We have been engaging with our customers on resolving the pending reconciliation issues, which we successfully settled in this quarter. And as per the accounting policy, this has resulted in a positive impact from onetime provision reversal of INR 5.5 billion in the revenue of fourth quarter.
In this context, it is also worth noting that there could be an element of revenue from this settlement in future financials as well, based on actual collections, for which we would be making adequate disclosures as and when.
Furthermore, as we have indicated in our previous calls, the exit revenues have tapered off from quarter 4. It was INR 0.3 billion in against INR 1.8 billion in quarter 4 of last year. It is important to take note of these nonrecurring items for the purpose of understanding our underlying results better.
Next, I would like to provide an update on our receivables position. Our receivables position improved by INR 3 billion in this quarter after seeing continuous increase in the previous 3 quarters. This was a result of modification of the security package whereby, we received INR 33.75 billion from Vodafone in quarter 4, over and above the minimum monthly commitment.
We are in continuous engagement with the customers to expedite the payments. With the positive developments in the industry and the recent equity infusion by the promoters, we expect the financial position to improve, and we continue to keep a close eye on the situation.
In summary, we had a mixed quarter where we made good progress on certain issues with our customers, but the tower and co-location expansion was relatively soft. We are hopeful of improvement in the business activities in the current year.
So with that, I would like to open the floor for question and answers.
[Operator Instructions] The first question comes from Mr. Vivekanand Subbaraman from Ambit Capital, Mumbai. Mr. Subbaraman, you may please ask your question now.
We can't hear.
The next question comes from Mr. Sanjesh Jain from ICICI Securities, Mumbai.
Can you hear me?
Yes. Go ahead, Sanjesh.
A couple of questions. First, on the MSA side renewal. Can you help us understand now that we have changed the tariff for one customer? One, what will be the impact on ARPT because we have mentioned that we have gone for a competitive pricing that also indicates that you have taken some cut in the rentals going forward. What kind of impact that will have on the blended ARPT? That's number one.
Number two, where does it lead us to? Because in 2016, we made a significant change in the way we price the rentals. We introduced the card rate, which had 2 intentions. One, to bring all the operators on the same rental plan. Number two, the renewals in the future becomes very smooth, and it's just a roll forward is what we were thinking. And now that we have corrected the prices for 1 customer, hence, the trade card becomes an irrelevant factor. How -- so what we have done an exercise over the last 5 years now, how is it going to help going forward with the new changes that we are implementing in the tariff plan?
So thanks, Sanjesh, and I will take this question. If you actually -- let me start by your second question first, where you mentioned what we did in 2016. Look at it from the prevailing conditions when we were operating, let's say, 5 years back or 6 years back to now. I think we should start to look at it from even the customer's perspective. And I think we did complete 10 years of this MSA with almost a flawless performance both from, let's say, tower companies and from our customers as well.
I think when we did this in 2016, the situation of the operators, and I think, even the tower companies was way different. I'm not even commenting on that structurally, we have made any big difference of within this newer framework handshake. What I would like to tell you at the moment is that we are in negotiation with 1 customer, and we have closed the framework with the other.
Another significant thing, maybe you have picked up or not is, that as an infrastructure company, it is vital for us to secure these contracts for long-term. And we did mention that we have secured this for another period of 10 years. We've always been hinting about creating a win-win for both customers and us as well. And we do believe that what we have secured is in favor of both our customers and also for us as well.
What I would like to also table that since we are in active negotiations with the second customer, revealing the impact on ARPT at this moment will not be in favor of the negotiations itself as well. And I think we would defer in giving any kind of guidance on what kind of discounts we ended up giving or what would be the framework.
We are a company believing in disclosures as well, and we've always come and given you the picture transparently as well. But I believe this time, we are amidst this negotiation. I do believe that in -- maybe, I hate to comment on when we would close the negotiation, but the moment it is done, we will certainly come back with the kind of disclosures on the possible impacts as well.
The only thing I can say is where I stand as the CEO of this company, looking at running this for next decade as well, I think this is a great win-win, which we have secured. Until we stitch up the second customer as well, please hold this for now.
Fair enough, sir. Just one follow-up on that. You also mentioned in your opening remarks that this is a win-win situation wherein customer is talking about expanding the network. Can you give us some understanding as per your discussion of the closing of the MSA? What does the tenancy and the tower growth look for us over the next 2 to 3 years?
Do you think there will be a material acceleration in the tenancy and tower expansion by this customer? Because this quarter looks like kind of tapering down in the -- or a significant deceleration in the growth by the customer, whether it's -- because one of the large customer has been talking about completion of a 4G CapEx for them, which also is showing up in the numbers. Now how should we look at the tower and tenancy growth in the backdrop that now we have closed the negotiation?
So look, Sanjesh, first, I will talk about the generic growth here and also comment on the quarter numbers as well.
I've been saying this in the past as well, and I have now evidence to support what I'm saying. I think the first point, which we need to keep in mind is the so-called parity between the operators has still not been achieved as well. And I think those numbers are still known. There is a operator A, who is ahead of others. Operator B will do the catching up. Operator C will catch-up with operator B. And I think there is that inherent growth in our business is certainly yet to happen. It's no rocket science here. If you guys can do your intelligent calculations, this is fairly simple.
This is 1 business as usual growth, which I do believe is are still on the table as well. With the data growth coming in, I have -- I see no reason why a self-fitting and adding more number of sites will not come to the table as well. I did mention that small cells and the leaner sites, there is a great amount of traction, which we are seeing and sensing as well. And we are -- please remember, we are still in the 4G arena as well. Come 5G with data growth and the spectrum in which 5G will be rolled out, I do believe it will spur another dimension of growth in terms of sites as well.
Hence, I have 0 problems in saying that when it comes to growth, we will see good growth coming in, in this year in subsequent quarters as well. I think when it comes to quarter 4, I see this as operator probably trying to hold it back, because of the -- their own CapEx reasons as well. I think this is just a 1 quarter phenomenon. We don't give guidance going forward, but I don't think we will see muted quarters in coming quarters when it comes to rollout.
Got it. So fair sir. Just one bookkeeping question from Vikas -- for Vikas. This INR 5.5 billion of one-off gain is for this quarter, this is not for the year, right? This reconciliation predominantly covers the entire year or there is some one-off also related to the prior years. Can you give us understanding for the year as a whole?
Yes. Sure, Sanjesh. So this INR 5.5 billion onetime provision reversal is relevant for the quarter. The same adjustment for the year would be INR 6.3 billion. That's the onetime adjustment for the year as a whole.
So this entire INR 5.5 billion adjustment for the reconciliation is done for the period for FY '22, and this doesn't have any reconciliation from the prior year, right? For the full year, this will not be a one-off, right?
No, that's what I said. There are -- it's quite a mixed scenario here. So the INR 5.5 billion onetime provision reversal is the adjustment that we have done for the quarter. And for the year, that same amount would be INR 6.3 billion.
Okay. So there was some one-off reversal also in the previous quarters, which gone by. And this entire INR 6.3 billion was for the year before FY '22?
Yes. So if you recall, we did call out some onetime in quarter 3 as well. So for the year as a whole, that's INR 6.3 billion.
Got it. So for next year, we will not have the exit revenue as well as this reconciliation. These 2 will be, to an extent, will bring down the revenues for next year, right?
That's right, Sanjesh.
And this entirely will go from the EBITDA, right? So there is no cost attached to these revenues, correct?
That's right.
The next question comes from Mr. Pranav Kshatriya from Edelweiss Securities, Mumbai.
My first question is regarding the MSA. There is a statement which says that the customer intends to renew majority of the co-locations. So does that mean that some of the co-locations possibly would not be renewed? And if you can give some color in terms of the range, what you should be looking at that will be useful?
And second question is regarding capital allocation. Are you looking at giving higher dividend or higher buyback to correct the capital structure? Or what the management is thinking?
Thanks, Pranav. Your first question was around the renewals. Could you repeat your first question, Pranav? This was around...
Sure. So the MSA actually states that the customer intends to renew majority of the co-locations. So if I basically read between the lines, it seems that some of the tenancies may not be renewed. And if you can give some color on that, what could be the...
Got it, got it. Sorry about this. Look, I think we need to take a step back and start to look at it from the customer's perspective as well. Since these MSAs have possibly lived for 10 years, over a period of 10, 11 years, there have been some amount of sites where inefficiencies have been built in as well.
These inefficiencies could be really the higher rentals -- landlord rentals, et cetera, et cetera. And I think it is very clear to us that if we are to partner with our customers in a good way, we need to certainly support such initiatives, in which, let's say, they are free to move those sites around along with participation from us as well.
And I think we have left a margin for our customers to actually move those sites around as well. I would like to take you back to, let's say, the previous earnings call as well, where we had mentioned that I think the churn in this industry doesn't make sense for any operator or for, let's say, a company like ours as well.
I think, in my opinion, the churn here also would be minimal, but customers are free to exercise a percentage of those sites. As I said, we would certainly come back and give you the final controls here as well, but this is more like addressing the hygiene between us and the operators, and giving them this little bit of a leeway to move those sites around. And they would possibly move it around with us only.
And this is a statement, which comes with the boilerplate clause, how we would operate in the future with the customers.
Sure. Sir, if I can just have a small follow-up on that. The 600-odd cancellation or some cancellation, what we are seeing of recently, is it sufficient to say that most of the cancellations are pertaining to this issue? Or there could be other issues that some operators are still consolidating their position and hence, may not want to have sites at a certain location, and that is the reason?
No. This is business as usual. These are operators exercising their 3% leeway within the MSAs itself, and it has no bearing on what I just mentioned for now. So this has no bearing on what I just mentioned as well.
Sure, sir. On my second question on capital allocation, I just want to know how management is thinking about capital allocation going forward?
Yes, sure, Pranav. On the capital allocation, I just want to remind you that our dividend policy, as you know, is linked to the free cash flow generation of the company. And as I mentioned, we have generated free cash flow of INR 30 billion in FY '22. And as a result, we have basically declared dividends of INR 11 per share, based on 100% payout of the free cash flow.
So going forward, I mean, of course, we will stick to the policy. We will continue monitoring receivables and free cash flow. And again, I mean, I think we would certainly follow the policy and pay the dividend accordingly.
The next question comes from Mr. Peter Milliken from Deutsche Bank, Hong Kong.
My question is about the new contracts and whether you are making any changes that might make it more attractive for users outside of Bharti and Vodafone Idea to come onto your tower network. Because it seems to me that it's increasingly important that you broaden your user base. And I'm interested in any plans you have to help make that happen?
So Peter, thank you for your question on the newer contracts. I think our current focus is to ensure that 1/3 of our portfolio, which is coming in for renewal, comes under the ambit of a fresh new contract as well. These contracts are more to do with the existing telecom cellular operators and not hitting at any other lines of business as well.
One thing I would also like to say that, as we close with the customers, we would certainly reveal the controls of this. But this is not hitting at or even facilitating, let's say, newer players to come on our towers.
Right. I think do you have any other plans that might make it even might accelerate the take-up of other operators something on to your new towers.
Well, Peter -- yes. I think I have been talking about, let's say, the strategy for Indus. And I think I have given, in the past, my own views about possibilities which exist, let's say, to further monetize these assets, which are so scattered, and absolutely valuable as well.
But since in, let's say, last 2 quarters, the last quarter, the focus definitely was to make sure that we address the situation of receivables through restructuring of the security package. I think a lot of bandwidth of pretty much everybody went in that direction. And I think we've achieved a very good result in which we have seen a reversal of our receivable, and that trend was very, very discomforting for us and the management.
So I think good time went there. And now I think our time is certainly going in the direction of securing the business as usual for this company for next 10 years. I think we would certainly come back on -- and with a renewed strategy, which has been eluding us for a couple of quarters now due to these large-scale opportunities, which we are closing 1 after the other.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Ms. Falguni Datta from Jet Age Securities Private Limited, Kolkata.
Hello?
Yes, Falguni, go ahead, please.
Sir I just wanted to know about exit revenue that's all. Since I'm just -- just this is the first time I'm attending this call, so pardon me for this.
No, no. Please, you are free to ask. So Vikas, exit revenue.
Yes, sure. So -- Falguni. So basically, I guess your question is what is exit revenue?
That's right.
Yes. So in the TowerCo business, because there are initially very high capital outlays in building towers, and usually, our tenure -- lease tenure is 10 years. If an operator decides to exit a tower before the end of the lease tenure, there's always a risk, which the TowerCo carries. And as a result, to compensate for that risk, there is an exit revenue, which the operator needs to pay to the TowerCo in case there is any premature exit.
So the exit revenue that we were discussing was in the context of the industry consolidation that happened around 3, 4 years back, when many operators either exited or they merged into single entities. And as a result, there were some bulk exits that happened. And as a result, we were entitled to exit revenues. Does that help, Falguni?
Yes, sir. Exit revenue is same as exit penalties then?
Yes, it's the same thing. It's penalty for the operator, it's revenue for us.
Yes. So just to understand, suppose somebody ends the contract at the end of tenth year. So he has to pay a lump sum amount at that year, or it's paid over a period of time?
No. So if someone ends the contract in the tenth year, then it is pretty close to the termination anyway. So the exit...
No, I said eighth year. Let's say fifth year. Let's say, somebody ends in -- the contract midway fifth year. So does he have to pay a lump-sum money in form of penalty in that point in time? Or is it over the quarters or over the years, that he has to pay?
No, it is a lump sum that needs to be paid at the time of exit, not in installments.
So whenever we report some exit revenues every quarter, that means some exits have happened during that quarter?
Yes. So there is a bit of a nuance that needs to be explained. Usually, the terms are exit penalty needs to be paid at the time of exit. However, because I said this was basically a lump sum exit that happened at the time of consolidation. The amount of exit was very, very high. And as a result, we had turned this into an installment and we were getting that installment until December 2021, after which the contract ended.
Okay. Understood sir. And sir, your view on exit penalties, I don't know whether it's possible to give that for is -- a number for FY '23? I mean anything that is pending that would come in.
I'm sorry, Falguni, we don't give any forward-looking numbers or statements.
The next question comes from Mr. Viral Shah from Credit Suisse, Mumbai.
I just had 1 clarificatory question. So in your opening remarks, you mentioned that the receivables declined by INR 3 billion quarter-on-quarter based on the funding that we have received and the INR 33.77 billion that is being increased by Plc will be paid or used by VI to pay in this tower, and this is over and above the monthly commitment that you have secured, is that right?
Yes. So, Viral, this INR 33.75 billion is in addition to the monthly -- minimum monthly commitments, yes.
Minimum monthly commitment, which will aggregate up to INR 30 billion by 15th July 2022, the assumptions rate INR 63.75 billion?
That's right.
The next question comes from Mr. Neerav Dalal from Maybank Securities.
I just wanted some understanding in terms of the small cells and the leaner towers. How is the business model -- how is the business model similar or different to the macro towers, some explanation on that? And what would be the current share of this to the overall revenues?
So Neerav, I think, I would possibly defer the -- the last part of your question for later to give you a little bit extra peek into our split of the product. However, we have been actually talking about the overall shift, which is taking place in our product contours as well. I think both small cells and these leaner towers are the ones, which are in demand and the customers are certainly looking at rolling out these towers.
Now this also, if you may go with the presence of fiber as well. Now if you actually look at -- this is slight bit of -- and I'm talking about small cells, slight bit of unorganized sector as well, because I think wherever you can actually take the fiber, the small cells get activated as well. And I think there was a notification. I think it was in April that the government recognized, let's say, the aerial fiber as well.
Hence, from a small cell perspective, we are seeing traction and a very good growth from our side. On demand for, let's say, leaner towers as well, we are seeing a very good substitution as well, and these leaner towers actually occupy lesser space. They are less in the tonnage as well. And from a return profile as well, give us a reasonably good return.
Now we would -- we are actually looking at coming to a substantial number, before we can actually give you a split of these small cells and the leaner towers separately as well. And as I mentioned, coming quarters, we would possibly give you a more details on these 2 products, but we are very gung-ho about increasing these numbers in coming quarters and maybe this year itself.
Got that. Got it. And the second question is regarding the operating performance. The last couple of quarters, you've seen towers and tenancies slow down. Obviously, in the longer term, as you said, there is -- there are multiple drivers for growth. But in terms of the near term, how should one then look at a pickup in these numbers? Some light on that.
I'll give you. Firstly, go back to the first quarter of the financial year. COVID situation, we were all in -- almost like a desperate situation. We ended up sharing with you that we did north of 3,000-odd towers in a quarter. We accelerated in quarter 2, we came to 2,900 in previous quarter and this quarter, I just mentioned the number in, let's say, north of 1,200, 1,300-odd as well.
If you actually look at the CAGR of our growth has always been 2, 2.5 it's even for a full year performance, we've bucked this trend and we have grown in this year as well. Your sharp question is around quarter 4, I don't think the quarter 4 trend will continue in the near future itself. We would buck this trend for sure as well, because we do believe that this happened for a reason and the reasons are possibly in the public domain as well.
But I can only tell you this that this is only going to accelerate as well and there is no stopping in the near future.
Got it. And just lastly, in terms of strategy into adjacencies, any take on that?
Well, I don't want to repeat my excitement and my views on this as well. I think that remains one thing, which I certainly would like to share with you the moment this is anchored both with the Board and the shareholders as well. I think all I can say is there's active discussions going on to close all the possible opportunities and moment that is done, we will come back and possibly share this with you all as well. So please hold the space until then.
The next question comes from Mr. Satinder Singh from [ EON ] Investments, Chandigarh.
I've got 2 questions, one for Vikas, the other for Mr. Dayal. Vikas, this concern is the receivables. So our understanding is that we've received INR 33.75 billion from Vodafone as of 31st March '22 itself. Now if that is the case, we see a very small drop in the trade receivables. The trade receivables correspondingly have fallen only about INR 3 billion from INR 73 million to INR 70 million, as a result of which the receivables continue to be quite high, and that has also negatively impacted the dividend, because of the cash flow. So could you help reconcile this, please?
Yes. Thank you for the question, Satinder. So I think your observation is absolutely right. The receivables have declined INR 3 billion now. The movement in receivables is a function of collections and also billings. So we also basically have been billing for the Jan, Feb, March quarter. And also bear in mind that the provision reversals -- the onetime provision reversal that I was talking about, is currently sitting in the debtors as well in the receivables, and we will be collecting those in the due course. So net-net, I think billing plus the provision reversals, et cetera, minus the collections is the INR 3 billion that you are seeing on the balance sheet.
Okay. So does this mean there's been some slack on collections this quarter, because -- even if you add the INR 5 billion, that makes it INR 3 billion plus INR 5 billion about INR 8 billion, okay? So that still leaves about INR 25 billion of excess receivables that have gotten built up over and above the existing?
Yes. So it's basically, first of all, I think if you look at the trend for 3 quarters, we were seeing increase in receivables, because of the delay in payments, which we all know the reasons for that. I mean, is -- are the liquidity issues that the industry is facing and so on.
Now first of all, I think it's a very good news that we got this INR 33.75 billion as a onetime lump sum collection, and this was basically monetizing our security. So this has really arrested that trend. To some extent, at least in quarter 4, we have seen for a change, no increase in receivables, but actually some improvement. Now does this mean that there is no problem anymore. I'm not saying that. So there is still work to be done.
And as I said earlier, we are in constant engagement to manage our receivables very actively to expedite the payments. So we are watching the situation every week, every month, and trying to make it better and better. So we really hope that this will improve gradually. I don't expect things to improve in a month's time or something in the short-term, but we are working towards gradually improving the situation.
So certainly, the INR 3 billion is not really a substantial great improvement, but at least it's a movement in the right direction.
Yes. Okay. Okay. Mr. Dayal, regarding like so while there's been a great announcement by the government, but the reality is that Vodafone continues to lose customers at a fairly fast clip and their fund raising still has a question mark. So in such case, I just wanted to understand, how do we mitigate the risks of losing a large customer like this, should that eventuality finally turn out?
And a related question to this. So like we have this co-location. So wherever we have a co-location, my understanding is, that each of the operators pays in -- each of the operator pays a lower rental. In case one of the operators were to go out of business and that co-location becomes a single location. So does the rental revert to a higher figure for the residual operator?
Yes. So thank you, Satinder, for your question. I wish I had the crystal ball, but let me go back and probably give you some of the discussions, which we were all exposed to. I think the news articles were, let's say, a year back or 1.5 years back, we were actually talking about shutting down of companies as well. And I think there were near death experiences when it comes to our existing operators as well.
We were talking about Supreme Court judgment, et cetera, et cetera. And we were all exposed to those. And I think those were absolutely nail biting. Even then you can go back in time, we have been consistently saying that this market will remain a 3-player market as well. We didn't read the signs from the government even then that they had been very vocal about supporting a 3-player market as well.
As the time has gone by, their support has been very overt now, and you know that next time you would probably want to ask this question, you might ask this question from the government, but that's on the lighter side. But I think from us supporting the customers, we have been extremely supportive. I think VIL has been a great customer, having great assets on ground. They have a very good track record in the past as well.
And hence, I think it's a merger of 2 very good companies as well, who have been very good customers to Indus. And I think in last couple of years, we are sensing this blip in our receivables and the business as well. But we being a customer-centric organization, we've been supporting them as well in the ways we can.
Now one of the things, which we did, and we did it very recently, was providing them with this leeway with their security package, and it helps not only them, but the industry and it helped us in bucking the trend as well. And I think there cannot be a bigger testimony and an answer to your question as to how -- what are we doing to help them in the current situation as well.
Now there are -- there is -- in my opinion, it's only the tariff, which when dealt with in a right manner, will actually improve the situation of the industry. And obviously, I think there is some momentum in improvement when it comes to the ARPU as well. I think operators have said that as well in the near future. They would like to see 200 and -- plus 200 as well. I think when we reach situations like this, we will see easing off of let's say, the situation, which, let's say, VIL is in right now.
I think some of those -- your questions could go directly to them as well, and I would love to listen to their answers on all this as well, but these are our views. We do believe that, as Vikas mentioned, over a period, this situation would certainly ease off, and we will certainly see 3 healthy operators, whether it will take 1-year or several years, we don't know, but we do believe in that scenario.
Yes. And the second part, Mr. Dayal, so in case the operator vacates the site, so the incumbent -- the residual operator, his rents goes up, in that case?
That's correct. Look, yes, that's how the MSAs are structured that if you are benefited by a tenant, I think when the tenant goes, the whole thing gets reset, and the higher rental will be paid by the tenant, who's actually left behind.
Yes. Mr. Dayal, you are running a great business, which shows up a lot of cash and debt equity is 25%, okay? Is in the discovered looking at the possibility of buying back the part of the stake that Voda Plc is offering, okay, because its prices currently are very attractive, okay. Share price is quite low and it will help the interest of all shareholders, okay. Is that an idea on the table or not?
So, Satinder, we take your suggestion and maybe we'll revert to you on this as well, but I don't think I can comment on this at the moment.
I think I would just like to add that from the regulatory framework perspective, Satinder, we cannot make any buyback offer to any specific shareholders. So if at all, we have to think of any such thing, it has to be basically wider and to almost everyone. So...
The next question comes from Mr. Saurabh Handa from Citi Group, Mumbai.
Actually my question was pertaining to receivables. So that's been answered.
The next question comes from Mr. Pratik Agarwal from HSBC, Mumbai.
I just wanted to ask about the CapEx guidance, if you can just provide. Because we have seen that the CapEx have declined for 2022. And in infrastructure company, when the CapEx decline, I guess the demand is something, which also gets affected, right. So I just wanted to know what CapEx is management looking for '23 and '24? If you can just kind of as and just give a kind of idea about the CapEx?
Yes, sure. Pratik, so first of all, I think as far as FY '23 or '24 is concerned, like I said, we don't normally give any forward-looking guidance or any outlook. As far as FY '22 CapEx is concerned, the decline versus last year that you're seeing is largely driven by the lower deliveries.
So our rollouts, as you know, for quarter 3 and quarter 4 have been a bit soft. And as a result, that has basically reflected in the sense of -- in the form of lower CapEx. That's, I think one of the biggest reasons that we have. Otherwise, pretty much the CapEx is in line with the trajectory.
Okay. So can you just give us the delivery trend for kind of April and early May, how it's going?
I'm sorry, Pratik, I don't think we can share anything with regard to the quarter 1, the current quarter.
At this moment, there are no further questions from participants. I will now hand over the call proceedings to Mr. Bimal Dayal for the final remarks.
Thank you. Thank you all for all your questions and patiently listening to this earnings call.
To sum up, we can look back upon the year gone by with satisfaction given the volatile environment during the year. We believe that there are sufficient levers for growth in the telecom industry underpinned by supportive and progressive government initiatives. We believe that this will stand us in good state for the future and help us create value for all our stakeholders in a sustainable way.
Thank you very much for listening, and good luck to us. Thank you.
Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the conference call. You may now disconnect your lines. Thank you for connecting to audio conference service from Airtel, and have a pleasant evening.