Tech and Telecom

PTCL Posts 38.8% Profit Growth in H1 2022

Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, has announced its financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2022, at its Board of Directors’ meeting held in Islamabad on July 18, 2022.

PTCL has reported an increase of 38.90 percent in its profits during the period. According to a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company reported a profit of Rs. 5.18 billion in the first half year that ended on June 30, 2022 as compared to a profit of Rs. 3.73 billion in the same period last year.

During the first six months of 2022, PTCL Group successfully managed to keep the top line growth momentum, which further strengthened its market standing as an integrated telecom services provider in Pakistan.

Growth in revenue of the PTCL Group is mainly driven by strong performance in the consumer segment led by fixed broadband, mobile data, and business solutions, along with microfinance services that supported the Group in achieving 5.7 percent growth in revenue over the comparative period despite the challenges of the increase in Advance Income Tax (AIT) and reduction in Mobile Termination Rates (MTR).

However, PTCL group has reported a loss of Rs. 3.05 billion during the first six months as compared to a profit of Rs. 2.93 billion in the same period last year.

PTCL

PTCL’s revenue of Rs. 40.0 billion for the period is 4.7 percent higher than 2021, mainly driven by growth in broadband and business solutions segments. The company has posted an operating profit of Rs. 1.9 billion.

The operating profit for the period remained under pressure compared to last year mainly due to an increase in operating costs on account of a significant hike in power and fuel tariffs. Additionally, PTCL’s Net Profit of Rs. 5.2 billion for the period is 38.8 percent higher as compared to the same period of last year.

According to the company’s results, an increase in non-operating income was observed due to translation gain on the Company’s forex-denominated assets, dividend income from a subsidiary, and gain on disposal of obsolete assets due to upgrade and fiberization of the network, has helped turn the 32.6 percent decrease at operating profit level to a 38.8 percent increase at the net profit level.

PTCL Group

PTCL Group’s revenue of Rs. 71.7 billion in 2022 is 5.7 percent higher compared to the same period of last year. PTCL Group’s profitability remained under pressure due to a significant hike in power and fuel tariffs, devaluation of the Pakistani Rupee against the USD, higher interest rates, and other factors like upfront costs associated with the acquisition of the 4G spectrum and related network rollout. The Group has posted a net loss of Rs. 3.1 billion.

The cost of services of the group was up by 12.61 percent to Rs. 56.17 billion from Rs. 49.88 billion during the half year. Administrative and general expenses were increased to Rs. 9.48 billion from Rs. 8.88 billion.

The finance cost of the company was increased to Rs. 15.48 billion, up by 243 percent compared to Rs. 4.52 billion due to the high-interest rates in the country and increase in the KIBOR rate.

According to the statement issued by the company, PTCL continued its growth momentum by posting a 4.7 percent YoY revenue growth. PTML’s (Ufone) revenue grew by 3.5 percent as compared to the same period of last year, while UBank has achieved a 25.0 percent growth in its revenue over the same period of last year.

PTML – Ufone

Post spectrum acquisition, Ufone has achieved growth in the 4G subscriber base and data services leading to a 3.5 percent YoY growth in topline despite the challenges of the increase in Advance Income Tax (AIT) and reduction in Mobile Termination Rates (MTR).

According to the company’s statement, Ufone continued to expand its network footprint across the country and has significantly modernized its network to 4G since the spectrum acquisition. The company has one of the fastest-growing 4G subscriber bases in the country.

External factors like the devaluation of the Pak Rupee, rising interest rates, and a hike in power/fuel tariffs have adversely impacted the company’s bottom line. VIS Credit Rating Company has assigned initial entity ratings of ‘AA-/A-1’ (Double A Minus/A-One) to Ufone with an outlook on the assigned ratings as ‘Stable’. This acknowledges the financial strength of Ufone through an independent rating exercise which also denotes high credit quality and good fundamental protection factors and is a testimony of stakeholders’ confidence in Ufone.

Ufone’s customer experience remains one of the best within the industry, backed by higher data speeds and industry-first innovative products such as ‘UPower’ that has received tremendous response from the customers.

U Bank

U Bank, the microfinance and branchless banking subsidiary of PTCL continued its growth trajectory and has achieved 25.0 percent YoY growth in its revenue by expanding its advances portfolio. The balance sheet footing of the bank reached Rs. 114 billion as the bank continued to diversify its asset classes and funding streams while ensuring a positive bottom-line impact.

PTCL Consumer Business: Consistent Growth

During the half year, the company’s fixed broadband business grew by 10.7 percent YoY, whereas the IPTV segment also showed 8.6 percent growth YoY. Within the broadband business, Flash Fiber, the company’s premium FTTH service, showed significant growth of 91.7 percent. The Voice revenue stream has seen a decline due to lower voice traffic and continued conversion of customers to OTT services.

PTCL has achieved consistent performance and enhanced customer experience on the back of the company’s seamless fixed broadband, including the fastest internet service in Pakistan through the Flash Fiber brand. PTCL has expanded its FTTH services in 28 cities, and the subscriber base has doubled on a YoY basis as the company continued to tap into the demand for growing internet and data services.

PTCL Business Solutions: Steady Performance

While continuing momentum with overall YoY revenue growth of 5.1 percent, the business solutions segment sustained its market leadership in IP bandwidth, cloud, data center, and other ICT services. PTCL’s corporate business grew by 15.0 percent as compared to last year.

Within the wholesale business segment, carrier revenue grew by 9.6 percent but the overall wholesale segment revenue has declined as a result of the closure of certain international IP leased circuits. International revenue, helped by the favorable impact of currency devaluation, has increased by 14.0 percent over the last year.

PTCL strives to provide innovative, dependable, and agile solutions to its partners through robust telecommunication infrastructure and a diverse portfolio of services with enhanced customer experience.

 

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Published by
Jehangir Nasir