ISLAMABAD, Feb 23: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) saw a 10.2 per cent decline in its revenue in the first half of the current financial year over the corresponding period last year. The decrease was due to a 64 per cent fall in its international revenue.
After tax profit of the company has declined by 25 per cent to Rs10.8billion. PTCL’s earning per share (EPS) fell by 25 per cent at Rs2.12, shows the official figures released by the company here on Thursday. The figures were released after the meeting of the board of directors of PTCL.
“The international revenue for reason of competition and composition of universal access fund/access promotion contribution since Jan 2005 was down by 64 per cent, causing overall PTCL revenue to show a decline of 10.2 per cent,” the company announced.
PTCL has achieved a minimal 7.6 per cent growth in its domestic revenue compared to the first half of the last financial year. This increase was mainly contributed by a healthy 120 per cent growth in domestic leased lines, 40 per cent increase in mobile interconnect charges, 30 per cent growth in value-added services and a 60 per cent increase in interconnect revenue.
An increase of 40 per cent in mobile interconnect charges stands in sharp contrast to the company’s claim of reducing call charges from time to time.
According to the PTCL management, following a 35 per cent reduction in compression control protocol (CCP) rates for fixed lines announced by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) with effect from August 2005 and only 20 per cent reduction in CCP for the mobile sector, the local call tariffs became very attractive in favour of the mobile sector.
This resulted in a massive reduction in tariff, especially in the mobile sector. “PTCL also selectively adjusted its long distance tariffs and was partially successful in containing the decline in its local calls and long distance revenue,” the board observed.
As a consequence of lower revenue and increase in operating cost, the operating profit for the first half of the current financial year was 27 per cent less than last year’s corresponding period.
Higher dividends from Ufone and better returns on surplus funds resulted in a 30 per cent growth in other income. On a comparable basis, after eliminating the impact of one-time items like universal service fund (USF) in 2005 accounts, the revenue and profit after tax (PAT) for 2006 has decreased by eight and 21 per cent, respectively.
In order to increase its subscriber base, the management has put emphasis on increasing the wireless customer base. The Wireless Local Loop (WLL) coverage is now available in 5,050 villages and 300 cities and towns.
The PTCL board also approved the accounts for the first six months of the current financial year for release to shareholders.
Official figures show that PTCL has added 175,000 (net) new customers, including 145,000 on WLL network, which is 83 per cent of the total subscriber growth. The company has enhanced the capacity of its network by 920,000 lines, including 750,000 WLL lines. By the end of last year, PTCL had a total of 5.4 million active lines in service.
PTCL’s cellular subsidiary, Ufone, has crossed several milestones and has outperformed the market growth by raising its share over 24 per cent by the end of last year. Its subscriber base has crossed five-million mark by the end of last year. This healthy trend has caused a 60 per cent increase in Ufone’s revenue and another 160 per cent increase in its profit.