Telenor’s subscribers grow but revenue lags

Marketing head happy with second quarter 2011 performance.

KARACHI:

Telenor Pakistan’s revenue crawled up to Rs19.8 billion (1,243 million Krone) in the second quarter of 2011 against Rs19.7 billion (1,236 million Krone) in the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by the parent company. The result was not in line with market expectation as analysts expected the top-line to fall to Rs19.3 billion (1,210 million Krone).

“I am happy with Telenor Pakistan’s performance in the second quarter of 2011,” said said Telenor Pakistan chief marketing officer Aamir Ibrahim. “We have been able to sustain growth and keep our operating profit margin strong despite operating in a challenging business environment,” he added.

Second quarter operating profit grew 11 per cent to Rs7.2 billion (453 million Norwegian Krone) against Rs6.5 billion (409 million Krone) in the same period last year. Analysts missed the number by eight per cent as they estimated operating profit to stand at Rs6.7 billion (419 million Krone).

The company maintained its spot as the country’s second largest telecom operator with 24% market share.

Telenor added 914,000 subscribers during the three-month period ending June 30, taking the total tally to 26.7 million subscribers, translating into a growth of 12%. The company took the spot of being the second largest operator from Ufone in the financial year ending June 30, 2009.

Also in the reporting period, Telenor Pakistan launched Djuice’s ‘Apportunity’, a service that allows mobile application developers from Pakistan to create mobile apps and get them published. Apps are published by Telenor Pakistan on the Nokia Ovi Store, Apple AppStore, and Android Marketplace for people around the world to download and enjoy.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2011.