Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) is back on the road of profitability. After a period of recovery of four years, the company is now targeting expansion as its business strategy for the future.
The telecom giant recorded year-on-year revenue growth in 2018 for the first time since 2014, with net profits showing a 22 % year-on-year growth. It sustained this profitability in 2019 with 95% profit growth in the first quarter of this year compared to last year.
PTCL’s major subsidiaries including— Ufone and U Microfinance Bank—continued to play a pivotal role in the overall profitability of its parent company.
During the past four years, the company witnessed several operational challenges and the competition is one of the factors. In this period, the company also laid off thousands of employees and hired staff from top to lower level including Chief Executive Officer.
PTCL’s new management under its new CEO Rashid Khan set to adopt an aggressive and expansion focused line-of-action.
Its subsidiary, U Microfinance Bank, a profitable and growing bank unveiled its plan to set up 60 new branches and 10 services centers across the country. The massive widening of footprints by a microfinance bank in one year is a significant step, which can only be taken as the large scale expansion by a profitable and leading conventional big bank.
The company also decided to upgrade its 100 exchanges under the Network Transformation Project in different parts of the country to improve its operational performance and revenue earnings.
Its subsidiary Ufone is going to launch 4G technology on its network in major cities in the same year, 2019.
Such plans depict a promising growth in the telecom and banking sectors through this telecom giant including inflows of foreign and local investments and generations of high skilled jobs in the country.
With these investments and developments plans, the widespread and strong rumors died down regarding the merger and acquisition deal of PTCL or its subsidiary Ufone with another telecom company. PTCL’s management had sessions with the management of China Mobile Company previously in this regard too.
Now the operational and business challenges are coming to an end and the ICT giant is set to rise once again. This is a time for its investor, Etisalat to think over paying back the much-awaited amount of nearly $800 million, which has been due since 2008 — the year of its privatization.
The issue of payment has become a deadlock between the government and the UAE-based Etisalat over the row property transfer issue. But the fresh news is the group is ready to settle the issues with the government.
The inflow of $800 million with or without late payment surcharge will be a gift of the incumbent government from fate which is presently working to attract billions of dollars to maintain its foreign exchange reserves.