Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the leading telecom and ICT services provider in the country, has announced its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2023. The announcement was made during the Board of Directors’ meeting held in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The company has posted an operating profit of Rs. 2.9 billion with an impressive 57 percent growth over last year and a net profit of Rs. 6.9 billion. Increase in non-operating income due to translation gain on the Company’s forex denominated receivables and gain on disposal of obsolete assets due to upgrade and fiberization of the network, played a significant role in achieving 34.5 percent increase in the net profit as compared to same period of last year.
PTCL’s revenue of Rs. 46.9 billion for the period is 17.3 percent higher than 2022, mainly driven by growth in Carrier and Wholesale and Broadband segments.
PTCL Group
The PTCL Group has posted a net loss of Rs 8.5 billion. However, the Group posted revenue of Rs. 90.9 billion in 2023, up 26.8 percent as compared to the same period of last year. The Group’s profitability was, among other factors, particularly affected by significant Rupee devaluation in the first quarter as the Group has unhedged FOREX liabilities.
The increase in PTCL Group’s revenue is primarily attributed to the exceptional performance across multiple segments, including fixed broadband, mobile data, business solutions and banking services.
PTCL Consumer Business
PTCL achieved 17.2 percent revenue growth over the same period last year in the fixed broadband business. The Company further strengthened its flag ship FTTH brand, ‘Flash Fiber’ by achieving significant net subscriber additions through exceptional customer experiences and aggressive expansion of fiber network across the country which played a vital role in achieving significant increase in FTTH revenue by 106.5 percent. IPTV segment also showed a 5.8 percent revenue growth YoY. Voice and wireless revenue streams continue the declining trajectory as they are impacted by OTT services and tough competition from cellular operators.
PTCL Business Services
Business services segment continued its momentum sustaining market leadership in IP bandwidth, cloud, data center, and other ICT services segments. PTCL’s enterprise business grew by 21.1 percent as compared to last year, while carrier and wholesale business continued its growth momentum and achieved 34.9 percent overall revenue growth. International voice revenue has increased by 18.6 percent as compared to last year. Despite the current challenging economic environment, overall Business Solutions revenue has shown a remarkable 27.4 percent year-on-year growth.
As the national telecom carrier and connectivity backbone in Pakistan, PTCL Group is committed to deliver innovative solutions that drive the growth of a ‘Digital Pakistan’. This is achieved through the establishment of robust telecommunication infrastructure and a wide range of services, all aimed at enhancing the customer experience and accelerating progress in the country. PTCL collaborated with Vodafone to bring industry leading IoT products, services and solutions to the Pakistani market. The partnership will allow to develop and deliver a full suite of end-to-end IoT services aimed towards accelerating enterprise digital enablement and improving adoption of connected services in the Pakistani society.
PTML – Ufone
Continuing its growth trajectory, Ufone recorded an impressive 22.4 percent YoY increase in its revenue and has achieved 24.5 million subscribers base. Network modernization activities, carried out in the first six months of 2023, resulted in better customer experience for Ufone subscribers. Ufone introduced best value Data Roaming Offer for its prepaid customers, who embarked on the holy pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. Ufone is upgrading its IR services by launching various LTE products with our roaming partners in all major destinations. The company also upgraded its digital wallet ‘UPaisa’ to provide a high-quality user journey by introducing a QR Code Scan feature on its digital app to bring unprecedented convenience to its users and simplify financial transactions.
U Bank
Despite an extremely tough macroeconomic environment, U Bank, the microfinance and branchless banking subsidiary of PTCL, continued its growth trajectory and has achieved a remarkable 96.5 percent growth in revenue and an impressive 27.9 percent growth in net profit over the corresponding period of last year, while maintaining a strong balance sheet position. The bank stands resolute in its commitment towards financial and social inclusion, utilizing its extensive outreach to provide exceptional services to a diverse clientele across the length and breadth of the country through its rural retail banking, corporate finance and investment banking, Islamic banking, urban retail banking, corporate banking, and digital banking canvases.
Challenges
The business landscape in 2023 continues to be influenced by the adverse impact of macroeconomic challenges that arose in 2022. The escalating energy and fuel tariffs present ongoing obstacles for telecom operators, making it difficult to deliver high-quality services to consumers at affordable prices. Delays in LC opening have affected the operators’ network expansion plans. Significant devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee in the first quarter, coupled with rising interest rates and additional super tax over and above regular corporate tax, has greatly impacted the profitability. To mitigate the effects of these challenging issues, policy intervention by the Government is required to provide much needed relief to the sector.
Source: Pro Pakistani