Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Revenue of the PTCL Group has increased by 8 per cent to Rs 110.5 billion year-on-year basis in the first three quarters of the current year which ended on September 30, 2022, the country’s leading telecom company announced on Thursday.

The financial result for nine months announced during the company’s Board of Directors’ meeting which was held in the United Arab Emirates, said a news release. The revenue growth was mainly driven by strong performance in the consumer segment led by fixed broadband, mobile data, and wholesale & business solutions, along with microfinance services.

PTCL’s revenue of Rs 61.1 billion for the period is 6.7 per cent higher than 2021, mainly driven by growth in broadband and wholesale & business solutions segments. The company has posted an operating profit of Rs 3.2 billion, which remained under pressure compared to last year mainly due to increase in operating costs on account of significant hike in power and fuel tariffs.

Net Profit of Rs 8.2 billion for the period is 45.2 per cent higher as compared to the same period of last year. Increase in non-operating income, 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 network, has helped turn the 12.4 per cent decrease at operating profit level to a 45.2 per cent increase at the net profit level.

As regards the PTCL consumer busines, the company’s fixed broadband business grew by 11.7 per cent YoY. Within the broadband business, revenues from Flash Fiber, the company’s premium FTTH service, showed significant growth of 98.7 per cent. IPTV also showed 8.6 per cent growth YoY. Voice revenue stream has seen a decline due to lower voice traffic and continued conversion of customers to OTT services.

PTCL continued to perform consistently with enhanced customer experience through 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 35 cities, and the subscriber base has doubled on a YoY basis as the company continues to tap into the demand for growing internet and data services.

While continuing momentum with overall YoY revenue growth of 8.8 per cent, the business solutions segment sustained its market leadership in IP bandwidth, Cloud, Data Center, and other ICT services. PTCL’s corporate business grew by 13.0 per cent as compared to last year.

Within the wholesale business segment, carrier revenue grew by 16.2 per cent but the overall wholesale segment revenue has declined as a result of closure of certain international IP leased circuits. International revenue, helped by the favorable impact of currency devaluation, has increased by 13.9 per cent over last year.

Meanwhile, PTML’s (Ufone) revenue grew by 5.4 per cent as compared to the same period of last year. Data remains the main driver of growth for Ufone through continued investment to expand 4G coverage and conversion of customer base to 4G.

As a result, Ufone achieved 3.5 million 4G net adds this year. Ufone has posted topline growth despite the challenges of increase in Advance Income Tax (AIT) and reduction in Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) and recent floods in the country. External factors like the devaluation of Pak Rupee, rising interest rates and hike in power / fuel tariffs have adversely impacted Ufone’s bottom-line.

During the second quarter, VIS Credit Rating Company has assigned initial entity ratings of ‘AA-/A-1’ (Double A Minus/A-One) to Ufone with 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.

UBank, the microfinance and branchless banking subsidiary of PTCL, continued its growth trajectory and achieved 29.8 per cent growth in its revenue over last year by deepening its advances and investment portfolio, despite the challenging macro-economic situation, further exacerbated by the recent flood.

The balance sheet footing of the bank reached Rs 122 billion as the bank continued to diversify its asset classes and funding streams while ensuring positive bottom-line impact. As the six business canvases of the bank, namely: Rural Retail Banking, Corporate Finance & Investment Banking, Islamic Banking, Urban Retail Banking, Corporate Banking and Digital Banking take their distinct forms and structures, this year will witness Ubank emerging as a Retail Challenger Bank aiming to extend banking services in accordance with the unique needs of its diverse and heterogenous clientele.

With the core mission of microfinance at its heart, the business model of the bank is evolving to capture new segments and customer classes to include more of Pakistan into the banking net and further its ambition of financial and social inclusion.

Being a national carrier and a Pakistani company, PTCL Group during the recent floods has contributed significantly towards the relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected communities across Pakistan.

PTCL Group has taken multiple initiatives including donation to PM’s Flood Relief Fund, collaboration with NGOs, PTCL opening the doors of its medical centers nationwide to provide emergency health and care to the affected communities and Ufone 4G offering free calls to help people stay in touch with their friends and family.