PTCL Q1 profit climbs 95pc to Rs1.9bln

By Our Correspondent
April 18, 2019

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom firm, on Wednesday announced a 95 percent year-on-year growth in profit to Rs1.9 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 as the group revenue continued to surge during the three months period.

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PTCL recorded Rs1.02 billion in profit for the corresponding quarter a year earlier. The company didn’t announce any dividend for the three months period.

PTCL group’s revenue for the quarter grew 11 percent year-on-year to Rs33.5 billion as a result of an accelerated growth in the Ufone and Ubank revenues, the company said in a separate statement. Ufone revenue increased in double digits. UBank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of PTCL, has shown significant growth of 53 percent in its quarterly revenue. PTCL group’s operating profit also improved 34 percent as a result of the revenue growth. PTCL posted a 10 percent higher profit in Q1. The company said operating profit for the quarter remained under pressure compared to last year “mainly due to increase in operating cost on account of significant hike in power tariffs”. “However, non-operating income increased due to higher income on investments as a result of significant increase in benchmark interest rates by the State Bank of Pakistan,” the company said in a statement.

PTCL Chief Executive Officer Rashid Khan said the devaluation of currency affected profitability, “but overall growth momentum has kept its path on positive side”. PTCL Chief Financial Officer Nadeem Khan General Manager Corporate Communication Fariha Tahir Shah were also present at the meeting to announce financials.

PTCL revenue of Rs17.9 billion for the quarter was slightly lower than last year. PTCL’s flagship fixed broadband services posted revenue growth of 5.8 percent over last year.

“PTCL continues its journey to upgrade top 100 exchanges under network transformation project in different parts of Pakistan,” PTCL said. Corporate business continued its growth momentum from a strong 2018 and has achieved a double digit annual growth. Growth drivers for corporate business are cloud infrastructure, IT, security and managed services projects.

Wireless revenue for the quarter declined on year-on-year basis due to strong competition by the cellular companies providing wireless data services.

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