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Indus Towers came into focus after its board approved its foray into African markets, beginning with Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia. Despite the significance of this move, the stock slipped around 2% in Wednesday’s trading session.
Indus Towers Limited was formed by the merger of Bharti Infratel Limited and Indus Towers. This combined strength makes Indus one of the largest telecom tower companies in the world.
The deets: the company’s entry into Africa marks its first-ever overseas expansion and is being viewed as a strategic attempt to widen its international footprint. Management believes these markets present strong opportunities for revenue diversification, operational scalability, and long-term value creation.
The catch: shares of the company slipped as investors worried that cash could be funneled into operations instead of dividends.
For context, Indus Towers hasn’t paid a dividend since May 2022, largely due to delayed payments from its key customer, Vodafone Idea. Earlier this year, the board was expected to announce a bonus, a buyback, or both in its May meeting, but the plan was postponed, which only added to investor disappointment and dragged the stock lower.
