A Big Turn Around: PTCL Posts 42.6% Profit Growth in Q1 2021 Despite COVID-19

Pakistan’s leading telecommunication and ICT services provider — Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) — has announced its financial results for the quarter that ended on 31 March 2021, at the meeting of its Board of Directors in Islamabad today. PTCL has reported an increase of 42.61 percent in its profits during the period. According to a notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), the company reported a profit of Rs. 1.72 billion in 1Q2021 as compared to a profit of Rs. 1.12 billion in the same period last year, which was driven mainly by the Broadband and Corporate and Wholesale business segments. Additionally, PTCL’s revenue had increased by 7 percent to Rs. 18.93 billion as compared to Rs. 17.69 billion in the same period last year. According to the official statement released by the company, the significant growth in its revenues was primarily led by its strong performance in the Consumer segment and its continued growth momentum in Business Services that had supported it in posting a growth of 7 percent in revenues for the first time since Q1 of 2014. This was achieved despite the negative effects of the pandemic. The factor that had successfully facilitated PTCL in putting its topline growth back on track was the speedy deployment of the Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) network under the project ‘Sunrise Pakistan’ — an aggressive commercial strategy that was aimed at improving customer experience and the expansion of its digital portfolio. This topline growth and efficient cost control program had significantly improved the bottom line. Furthermore, PTCL’s earnings per share increased to Rs. 0.34 as from Rs. 0.24. ALSO READ Deposits in Pakistan Banks Grew by 18% in Q1 2021 According to a notification to the PSX, the PTCL Group reported a profit of Rs. 1.6 billion. It had reported a loss of Rs. 406 million in the same period last year. The group posted a revenue of Rs. 33.9 billion in Q1, 2021, which is 6.7 percent higher than that of the same period of last year, and was mainly contributed by PTCL and U Bank. U Bank had continued its growth momentum and achieved a growth of 26.5 percent in its quarterly revenue over the same period last year. PTML’s (Ufone) revenue had remained stable despite stiff competition in the cellular market. The group had also successfully conducted a 5G trial in a limited environment, showcasing a remote surgery test case for the first time in Pakistan. PTCL’s scrip at the bourse was closed at Rs. 9.59, up by Rs. 0.12 or 1.27 percent, with a turnover of 8.03 million shares on Monday. PTCL Consumer Business reported its 4th straight quarter of growth. According to an official statement, the fixed Broadband customers had crossed the 1.48 million mark, with 30,000 net additions recorded for the quarter. Apart from Voice Business which has been impacted severely by the pandemic, all the business segments had reported revenue growth in double digits. ALSO READ Remittances Remain Over $2 Billion For the 10th Consecutive Month The Corporate and Wholesale businesses had continued their growth trajectory while proving market leadership in IP Bandwidth, Cloud, Data Center, and other ICT services segments. PTCL has embarked on a journey to develop partnerships to offer software as a service (SaaS) in the banking, education, Cloud, and cyber-security verticals. It was awarded major digital enablement projects that included Utility stores in the digital transformation of 4,000+ branches, and UBL for the hosting of the primary infrastructure in a purpose-built Tier-3 site among other projects. With the renewal of its integrated services license for the next 25 years, PTCL has accelerated investments in developing state-of-the-art telecommunication infrastructure in Pakistan, which has further strengthened its position as the backbone of connectivity in the country.