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

During the first six months of 2022, PTCL Group successfully managed to keep the topline growth momentum, which fur­ther strengthened its market standing as an integrated tele­com services provider in Paki­stan. Growth in revenue is main­ly driven by strong performance in the consumer segment led by fixed broadband, mobile data, andbusiness solutions, along with microfinance services that supported the Group in achiev­ing 5.7% growth in revenue over the comparative period de­spite the challenges of increase in Advance Income Tax (AIT) and reduction in Mobile Termi­nation Rates (MTR).

PTCL GROUP HIGHLIGHTS

• PTCL Group’s rev­enue of Rs 71.7 billion in 2022 is 5.7% higher as compared to the same period of last year.


• The Group’s profitabil­ity remained under pressure due to significant hike in power and fuel tariffs, devaluation of the Pak rupee against USD, higher interest rates, and other factors like upfront costs associ­ated with the acquisition of 4G spectrum and related network rollout.The Group has posted a net loss of Rs 3.1 billion.


• PTCL continued its growth momentum by posting 4.7% YoY revenue growth.


• PTML’s (Ufone) reve­nue grew by 3.5% as compared to the same period of last year.


• U Bank has achieved a 25.0% growth in its rev­enue over the same period of last year.

PTCL HIGHLIGHTS

• PTCL’s revenue of Rs40.0 billion for the period is 4.7% 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. Operating prof­it for the period 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 Rs5.2 billion for the period is 38.8% higher as compared to the same period of last year.

PTCL CONSUMER BUSINESS: CONSISTENT GROWTH

During the half year, the com­pany’s fixed broadband busi­ness grew by 10.7% YoY, where­as IPTV segment also showed 8.6% growth YoY. Within the broadband business, Flash Fi­ber, the company’s premium FTTH service, showed signifi­cant growth of 91.7%.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%, 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% as compared to last year.

PTML – UFONE HIGHLIGHTS:

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


• Ufone continued to expand its network footprint across the country and has significantly modernized its network to 4G since spec­trum acquisition.


• The company has one ofthe fastest growing 4G sub­scriber base in the country.


• External factors like the devaluation of Pak rupee, rising interest rates and hike in power / fuel tariffs have adversely impacted the com­pany’s bottom-line.

U BANK HIGHLIGHTS:

UBank, the microfinance and branchless banking subsidiary of PTCL, continued its growth trajectory and has achieved 25.0% 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 positive bot­tom-line impact. 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.