ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Group posted a revenue of Rs68 billion in the first half of 2021, which is eight percent higher as compared to Rs62.9 billion during the same period last year.
The financial results for the first half of 2021 (ended June 30, 2020) were released after the Board of Directors’ meeting held here on Wednesday.
Briefing media persons, Group Chief Financial Officer Nadeem Khan said that the PTCL has also posted a significant eight percent growth in its revenues, the highest since 2014, owing to its robust performance.
The PTCL successfully sustained the momentum of growth from its last quarter’s turnaround that had cemented its market standing as the largest fixed line telecom player in the country.
The significant growth in revenues is mainly driven by strong performance in consumer segment led by Fixed Broadband services.
During the past quarter, the PTCL strongly focused on enhancing customer experience through provision of high quality and fast internet under its flagship “Flash Fiber” Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) project.
The company is upgrading its existing infrastructure, besides expanding the FTTH to newer markets to usher in seamless connectivity for greater customer enablement and experience.
The FTTH’s speedy deployment and strong performance in corporate and wholesale segments are the cornerstone in the PTCL’s enhanced topline growth, which along with focus on cost control program, has significantly increased the company’s profitability.
Khan said the PTCL’s revenue of Rs38 billion for the half year is eight percent higher than the same period last year, mainly driven by Broadband and Corporate and Wholesale business segments.
The company has posted operating profit of Rs2.8 billion, which is higher by 96 percent compared to the same period of last year.
Net profit of Rs3.7 billion has significantly increased by 38 percent from last year.
He further said that the PTCL Group posted revenue of Rs68 billion in first half of 2021 that is eight percent higher as compared to the same period of last year.
U Bank continued its growth momentum and has achieved 17 percent growth in revenue.
The PTML (Ufone) posted revenue growth of five percent.
The PTCL Group delivered strong financial and operational performance and posted a net profit of Rs2.9 billion as compared to Rs33 million for the same period of last year.
Khan said the PTCL Consumer Business showed consistent performance as it reported 4th straight quarter of growth.
The company’s Fixed Broadband customers crossed 1.5 million mark, with 44,486 net additions recorded during the period.
Due to the Covid-19, voice business was impacted, however, all remaining business segments reported double-digit growth in revenue.
During the first half of 2021, the PTCL Fixed Broadband business grew by 13.5 percent YoY, whereas, the PTCL IPTV Segment also grew by 14.1 percent.
The groundbreaking PTCL Flash Fiber FTTH service showed a tremendous growth of 52.5 percent, while the PTCL Charji/Wireless Broadband Segment grew by 18.4 percent.
Corporate and wholesale businesses continued its growth momentum sustaining market leadership in IP Bandwidth, Cloud, Data Center and other ICT services segments.
The overall YoY growth has been recorded at eight percent.
The PTCL’s Corporate business grew by 14 percent as compared to the same period last year, while Carrier and Wholesale business continued its growth momentum and achieved 12 percent overall revenue growth.
International voice revenue has declined by five percent due to lower voice traffic and appreciation of PKR against USD.
The PTCL continues to develop strategic partnerships with leading corporate entities to offer Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in the banking, education, Cloud and cyber-security verticals.
Furthermore, the PTCL, in line with its vision to revolutionise widespread availability of the IP connectivity in Pakistan, has signed contract for deployment of Unified IP Edge network for providing next generation IP services.
Additionally, 5G technology was successfully tested in a limited environment in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by the PTCL Group in collaboration with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KPITB), under the umbrella of Department of Science and Information Technology, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
Ufone’s license for providing services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan was also renewed for the next 15 years by the PTA in June 2021.
Being the backbone of Pakistan’s connectivity, the PTCL Group remains at the center stage to accelerate and support the “Digital Pakistan” vision through robust telecommunication infrastructure and enhanced customer experience.
Replying to a question, Khan said that the new tax of 75 paisa on call exceeding five minutes announced in the budget is difficult in implementation.
He said that it would hit the poor the most who only rely on voice call.
He said there are challenges in tariff, billing, calculations, and tax recovery.
He said that the government is reconsidering the decision and hope it would reverse.
He further said that due to growing demand the PTCL has launched its own fiber optic Flash Fiber.
He further said that initially it would be launched in major cities.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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