Omantel exits WorldCall Telecom after $20m injection

Service provider is now free of liabilities, says CEO

KARACHI: WorldCall Telecom Limited (WTL), a multimedia and telecom service provider in six cities, is now free of liabilities, after Omantel injected $20 million into the company to settle its liabilities and exit, company officials said on Monday.

In 2008, Oman Telecommunication Company acquired a majority stake (56.8% or 488.83 million ordinary shares) in WTL at a price of $193 million.

Later, WTL became a loss-making entity with most of its businesses going down due to massive competition in all the three segments - data (internet service provider), entertainment (cable operator) and voice (telephone).

“Omantel injected $20 million into WorldCall Telecom to write-off liabilities under its exit plan,” WTL Chief Executive Officer Babar Ali Syed told The Express Tribune on the sidelines of a corporate briefing at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).

WTL’s share price increased 7.09%, or Rs0.21, to close at Rs3.17 on Monday. The stock was the volume leader with 35.26 million shares changing hands.

“Now, they [Omantel] have nothing to do with WTL. We have assumed control of the company [being management] in November 2017,” he said.

“We have an asset base of $86 million in the books,” he said.

The company has set a revenue target of Rs4 billion this year (calendar year 2018) after it earned Rs2.3 billion in 2017 - a growth of 75% on year-on-year basis. “This would also turn our bottom line into profit,” he said.

To achieve this, the company has planned to spend $10-11 million on improving existing services in all three segments in 2018. Out of this, $7.5 million would be the capital expenditure and $3.5 million would be the working capital, he said.

“We foresee 40% business from cable and media, another 40% from LDI and 20% from fibre business,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 9^th, 2018.

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