PTCL posts Rs138bn revenue

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) posted revenue of Rs138 billion in the year 2021, which is 6.3 percent higher as compared to 2020.

The company stated that the revenue growth was owing to a robust commercial strategy that cements its market standing.

The company has announced its annual financial results for the year 2021 at its Board of Directors’ meeting, here on Thursday.

The PTCL continued its growth trajectory by posting seven percent YoY revenue growth, which is the highest since 2013. The PTML (Ufone) also posted a revenue growth of 4.3 percent despite stiff competition in the market. U Bank continued its growth momentum and has achieved 8.4 percent growth in revenue. The PTCL Group has posted a net profit of Rs2.6 billion.

The PTCL continued its strong performance throughout 2021. The PTCL’s revenue of Rs77 billion for the year 2021 is seven percent higher than 2020, mainly driven by Broadband and Corporate and Wholesale business segments. The PTCL registered highest Fixed Broadband Sales and Net Adds in 2021 since 2015, which allowed it to grow in the broadband business segment. The PTCL is the fastest growing FTTH operator with highest Net Adds within the FTTH market in 2021.

The company has posted operating profit of Rs4.2 billion, which is higher by 21 percent compared to 2020.

Net profit of Rs6.9 billion is higher by 14 percent as compared to the last year.

The company is continuously upgrading its existing infrastructure and network, besides expanding Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) across the country to offer seamless connectivity for greater customer experience.

Prompt deployment of the FTTH and strong performance in corporate and wholesale segments are the cornerstone in the PTCL’s topline growth, which along with focus on cost optimisation programme, has significantly increased the company’s profitability.

During 2021, the company’s Fixed Broadband business grew by 11.7 percent YoY, whereas, PTCL IPTV segment also grew by 13 percent YoY. Within broadband business, the PTCL Flash Fiber, the company’s groundbreaking FTTH service, showed a tremendous growth of 61.5 percent, whereas, PTCL CharJi/ Wireless Broadband Segment grew by 16.5 percent. Voice revenue stream has declined on account of lower voice traffic and continued conversion of customers to the OTT services.

Business services segment continued its momentum sustaining market leadership in IP Bandwidth, Cloud, Data Centre, and other ICT services segments. The PTCL’s Enterprise business grew by 10 percent as compared to the last year, while Carrier and Wholesale business continued its growth momentum and achieved nine percent overall revenue growth.

Similarly, international business growth was recorded at four percent.

Being the national telecom carrier and connectivity backbone in Pakistan, the PTCL Group strives to provide innovative solutions to accelerate growth for a “Digital Pakistan” through robust telecommunication infrastructure and a diverse portfolio of services with enhanced customer experience.

Ufone’s financial year 2021 ended on a high note despite, challenging operating environment. Ufone revenues grew by 4.3 percent as compared to 2020 mainly driven by growth in data services. Ufone acquired additional 9 MHz 4G spectrum in the 1800 MHz Band in NGMS spectrum auction in September 2021, fulfilling its commitment to provide enhanced customer experience through quality services across Pakistan.

Post-spectrum auction, significant network modernization activity was carried out in Q4 2021 that has allowed Ufone to significantly improve its share of the 4G Net Adds within the industry. PTCL Group is playing a key role in supporting Universal Service Fund (USF)’s efforts for the development of telecommunication services in un-served and under-served areas of the country. This year, PTCL was awarded seven USF optical fiber projects for far flung areas of Punjab, KPK, and Sindh. Under these projects, the PTCL will deploy a total of 4,690km optical fiber. Ufone was awarded five USF projects under the Broadband for Sustainable Development (BSD) umbrella during 2021 for the un-served and under-served areas of Balochistan which involve deployment and network upgrade of 205 BTS sites.

UBank, the microfinance and branchless banking subsidiary of PTCL, continued its growth trajectory and has achieved 8.4 percent growth in its revenue over the last year by increasing its advances portfolio. The balance sheet footing of the bank crossed the Rs100billion mark as the bank diversified its funding streams and asset classes, while ensuring positive bottom-line impact. Major strategic initiatives undertaken by the bank include venturing into the low-cost housing loans, international remittance, and the launch of Islamic Banking. The bank intends to invest in state-of-the-art technology to become a leading digital banking player. With the core mission of microfinance at its heart, the business model of the bank is evolving to capture new segments and customer classes to include more of Pakistan into the banking net and further its ambition of financial and social inclusion.

During 2021, the PTCL ran the second cohort of its flagship internship program “Justuju” for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in collaboration with “Network of Organizations Working with Persons with Disabilities, Pakistan” (NOWPDP).

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022