Business

PTCL Group posts loss over debt repayment

Group registered a net loss of Rs8.5 billion, caused mainly by debt retirement from Ufone

Our Correspondent July 20, 2023

The survey found that nearly two-thirds of the people who had engaged with government offices, or around 64 per cent, believed that corruption levels at the 25 selected government departments were either very high or somewhat high. FILE PHOTO.

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Group posted record revenue of Rs90.9 billion for six months ended June 30, 2023, which was 26.8% higher compared to the same period of previous year.

While PTCL and Ubank made substantial profits in January-June 2023, the third entity in the group, Ufone, continued to post negative growth primarily due to the low returns received by the mobile telecom industry and high loans.

The results were unveiled by PTCL Group Chief Financial Officer Naveed Khan after a meeting of board of directors in Islamabad on Wednesday.

Despite making huge profits, the group registered a net loss of Rs8.5 billion, caused mainly by debt retirement from Ufone.

Ufone, however, posted 22.4% revenue growth for the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of last year, driven by 4G upgrading, new products and services as well as increase in its subscriber base, Khan said.

The CFO pointed out that Ufone faced financial stress as it made extensive borrowing for its expansion programme, and high dollar rates and interest costs added to the losses.

He underlined that the business landscape in 2023 continued to be influenced by the adverse impact of macroeconomic challenges that arose in 2022.

Escalating energy and fuel tariffs place obstacles in the way of telecom operators, making it difficult to deliver high-quality services at affordable prices while delays in opening Letters of Credit affect network expansion plans.

Meanwhile, PTCL reported revenue of Rs46.9 billion for the first half of 2023, which was 17.3% higher compared to the same period of 2022. It was mainly driven by the growth in carrier and wholesale and broadband segments.

The company’s operating profit came in at Rs2.9 billion with 57% growth over last year while net profit stood at Rs6.9 billion.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2023.

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