ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) Group's revenue of Rs62.9 billion for the first half of 2020 declined by five percent compared to Rs66.3 billion during the same period of last year.
The financial results for the six months period ended June 30, 2020 were released after the Board of Directors' meeting held here on Wednesday.
The PTCL's revenue of Rs35.3 billion for the half-year is one percent lower than Rs35.8 billion during the same period of last year. According to the official data, the PTCL's operating profit of Rs1.4 billion and net profit after tax of Rs2.7 billion for the half-year have declined as compared to Rs3.374 billion and Rs3.792 billion respectively during the same period of last year due to effects of Covid-19 pandemic, increase in operating costs and higher depreciation on fixed assets as a result of significant capital expenditure on network upgrade in the last year.
The official statement issued after the board meeting stated that after the onset of Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, the country is witnessing a gradual come back to a new "normal" in which the economic activities were carefully being resumed, while adhering to due counter measures for containing the effects of the pandemic.
With its extensive network footprint, the PTCL has successfully played its role as the communication backbone of the country in these testing times.
Our dedicated frontline workers, who have been continuously on the ground despite the pandemic and our diligent customer care teams have ensured uninterrupted service delivery for our valued customers, it added.
It further stated that the PTCL Group's revenue of Rs62.9 billion for the half-year is lower by five percent as compared to the same period of last year.
If normalised for the impact of Covid-19 and certain regulatory changes affecting Ufone, the PTCL Group's revenue is 2.5 percent higher than 2019 on a like-for-like basis.
U-Bank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of the PTCL, continued its growth momentum and has achieved a 45 percent growth in its revenue over last year.
The Group's operating profit and bottom line have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and rupee devaluation.
The PTCL's revenue of Rs35.3 billion for the half-year is one percent lower than last year.
If normalized for the impact of Covid-19, the like-for-like revenue is stable and slightly higher than the same period of last year.
The PTCL witnessed an exponential growth in the internet traffic during the pandemic, which was facilitated through timely expansion at Content Delivery Network (CDN) domain to improve customer experience and optimize international bandwidth.
As the pandemic still continues to be a challenge for Pakistan, the PTCL ensured connectivity for more people with its wireline and wireless products during this quarter, which has resulted in improved Charji revenues, along with addition of more than 15,000 fixed broadband customers in Q2, 2020.
The PTCL was able to curtail the churn rate, convert more customers to digital payments and resolve more than 50 percent complaints on spot through its efficient Customer Services by focusing on customer experience and engagement.
To enhance the overall customer experience, the PTCL has taken various customer centric initiatives during this year.
These include the adoption of Nokia Service Management Platform for effective service delivery, improved line stability through dynamic line management, enhanced customer communications and reduction in overall fault resolution time.
During the second quarter of 2020, the company's mean time to resolve the customer complaints was well above 90 percent of the service level i.e. to resolve the complaints within 24 hrs.
Corporate and wholesale businesses continued their growth momentum and have achieved an eight percent overall revenue growth YoY.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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