KARACHI (April 29 2003) : Pakistan Telecommunication Company's net profit recorded a significant growth of nearly Rs 2.3 billion in the nine months ended March 31, 2003, while revenue posted an increase of 3 percent.
The PTCL Board of Directors, in its meeting on Monday, April 28, 2003, for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2003, approved the unaudited accounts of the company.
The meeting was presided over by Akhtar Ahmad Bajwa, Chairman, PTCL.
PTCL s net profit after tax registered a phenomenal growth of 18 percent as compared to the corresponding nine months' period last year.
Total revenue for the nine-month period came out as Rs 49.2 billion, 3 percent higher than last year's corresponding figure of Rs 47.9 billion, and profit after tax for the nine months period increased to Rs 15.46 billion, against last year's corresponding figure of Rs 13.09 billion.
Thus, the earning per share (EPS) improved from Rs 2.57 to Rs 3.03 for the nine-month period.
The growth was mainly driven by 7 percent improvement in domestic revenues, which was Rs 36.5 billion compared to last year's corresponding figure of Rs 34.2 billion.
The international revenues decreased by 7.8 percent from Rs 13.7 billion to Rs 12.6 billion due to reduction in the accounting rates.
Despite inflationary pressure on fuel and energy costs and overall expansion/upgradation of network for improvement of operations and service, the operating expenses were kept under check, which showed a decrease from Rs 25.6 billion of last year to Rs 25.3 billion for nine months period this year, whereas financial charges were reduced from Rs 2.3 billion to Rs 0.7 billion (69 percent reduction).
The Company's cash flow remained strong as Ebitda margin stood at 70.6 percent as compared to 69.8 percent for last year.
The annualised return on capital employed improved to 17.9 percent as compared with 16.5 percent of FY 2001-02.
For future growth, PTCL is putting in all-out efforts to enhance revenue potential by expanding the range of market-driven services using state-of-the-art telecom technology and high capacity network at par with the developed countries.
PTCL management and the Board of Directors are hopeful that the annual financial result of FY 2002-03 will show even further improvement.
