ISLAMABAD: Power tariff hikes and strong market competition has started to pinch Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) hard as its quarterly operating profits for the period ending March plunged by 13 per cent to Rs1.9 billion.

At a press briefing to announce financial results for the quarter, the company representatives said that due to an increase in operating cost on account of the significant 40pc hike in power tariffs the company’s profitability took a hit during the period.

Similarly, PTCL Chief Financial Officer Group Nadeem Khan said that wireless revenues for the period declined on a year-on-year basis due to strong competition by the cellular companies providing wireless data services.

“There is continued decline in domestic and international voice revenues due to illegal/grey traffic termination, continued conversion of subscribers to over the top and cellular services resulting in declining voice traffic volumes,” Khan said.

However, he said the PTCL Group’s revenue for the quarter has grown by 11pc to Rs33.5bn as a result of accelerated growth in the Ufone and UBank revenues.

Ufone’s revenue posted double-digit increase year-on-year whereas UBank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of PTCL, has shown significant growth of 53pc in its quarterly revenue over last year. PTCL Group’s operating profit and net profit for the quarter have improved by 34pc and 95pc respectively as a result of the revenue growth.

The meeting also informed that the company’s revenue of Rs17.9bn for the quarter is slightly lower than last year. PTCL’s flagship fixed broadband services posted revenue growth of 5.8pc over last year.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2019