PTCL Group posts Rs33.9bn revenue in Q1 2021

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Group posted revenue of Rs 33.9 billion in Q1 2021 that is 6.7 percent higher as compared to the same period of last year, which was mainly contributed by the PTCL and U Bank.

The PTCL, on Monday, announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 at its Board of Directors’ meeting held in Islamabad on April 11, 2021 which was later shared with media.

The PTCL Group’s posted revenue of Rs 33.9 billion in Q1 2021 that is 6.7 percent higher as compared to the same period of last year, which was mainly contributed by PTCL and U Bank. U Bank continued its growth momentum and has achieved a 26.5 percent growth in its quarterly revenue over same period of last year. PTML’s (Ufone) revenue remained stable despite stiff competition in the cellular market.

PTCL Group posted a net profit of Rs 1.6 billion as compared to loss of Rs 0.4 billion for the same period of last year. The Group also successfully conducted 5G trial in a limited environment showcasing a remote surgery test case for the first time in Pakistan. The PTCL’s revenue of Rs 18.9 billion for the quarter is seven percent higher than Q1 2020, mainly driven by Broadband and Corporate and Wholesale business segments. The operating profit of the company has increased by Rs 1.3 billion compared to the same period of last year as a result of growth in the topline, coupled with varied management initiatives for cost optimization.

Net profit of Rs 1.7 billion has significantly increased by 42.6 percent from last year.

The significant growth in revenues was mainly driven by strong performance in consumer segment and continued growth momentum in Business Services that supported PTCL in posting seven percent growth in revenues for the first time since Q1 of 2014.

This was achieved despite the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the spokesperson, speedy deployment of Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network under project “Sunrise Pakistan”, aggressive commercial strategy that aimed at improving customer experience and expansion of digital portfolio successfully helped the company get topline growth back on track.

This topline growth and efficient cost control programme improved bottom line significantly.

PTCL Consumer Business reported 4th straight quarter of growth. Fixed Broadband customers crossed 1.48 million mark, with 30,000 net additions recorded for the quarter. Apart from Voice Business, which is severely impacted by Covid-19, all the business segments reported revenue growth in double-digits.

The PTCL Fixed Broadband business grew by 12.3 percent YoY, whereas PTCL IPTV Segment also grew by 11.1 percent YoY. PTCL Flash Fiber, FTTH service offered by PTCL, showed a tremendous growth of 47.1 percent YoY. PTCL Charji /Wireless Broadband Segment grew by 11.1 percent YoY.

Universal Service Fund (USF) awarded two contracts to PTCL worth Rs 3 billion for the provision of Optic Fiber Cable in interior Sindh to connect the underserved areas.

Corporate and wholesale businesses continued their growth trajectory proving its market leadership in IP Bandwidth, Cloud, Data Centre and other ICT services segments.

Corporate business grew by 11.9 percent as compared to the same period last year.

Carrier business continued its growth momentum and achieved 13.5 percent overall revenue growth YoY.

International revenue has declined by 7 percent, as compared to the same period last year mainly due to lower voice traffic and appreciation of PKR against USD.

The PTCL embarked on a journey in developing partnerships to offer software as a service (SaaS) in the banking, education, Cloud and cyber-security verticals.

Additionally, the PTCL was awarded major digital enablement projects that included Utility Stores in the digital transformation of 4,000+ branches, UBL for hosting of the primary infrastructure in a purpose-built Tier-3 site, among other projects.

With the renewal of its integrated services license for the next 25 years, the company has accelerated investments in developing state-of-the-art telecommunication infrastructure in Pakistan, which further strengthened its position as the backbone of connectivity in the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021