KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) posted consolidated profit after tax on Thursday for the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 at Rs1.007 billion.

Compared to the corresponding period of last year, the bottomline dropped 10.02 per cent while earnings per share fell from Rs0.22 to Rs0.2. The group revenue for the first quarter was recorded at Rs30bn, representing a year-on-year growth of 4pc.

The fall in profits was attributed mainly to adverse impact of the rupee devaluation. “Adjusted for foreign exchange impacts and other one-offs, bottomline of the group would have been 28pc higher than (same time) last year,” PTCL said.

In a statement released by PTCL, it said that the growth in revenue was a result of contribution by all the subsidiaries. “After arresting the rate of revenue decline in 2017, PTCL’s Q1 2018 revenue of Rs17.5bn has registered growth for the first time since Q2 2014, reflecting an increase of 1pc over the same quarter last year,” the company observed.

The group’s telecom network, Ufone, registered a 4pc revenue growth year-on-year despite the tough competition in the industry. Ubank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of PTCL, saw almost twice the revenue over same quarter last year.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2018