Archive for September 14th, 2007

PTCL Announces Financial Results, Net Down By 25%

Published by Babar Bhatti on September 14, 2007 under Broadband Internet, Companies, Competitive Trends, Emerging Markets Telecom, Mobile Companies, Networks, PTCL, Pakistan, Stocks, Telecommunications

ptclfsr7.PNGPakistan Telecommunication Co Ltd (PTCL) on Friday reported a 24.7 percent fall in net profit for 2006-07 financial year, as rising competition led to a decline in revenues from call traffic. Sources: Reuters and other news sources.

The full results are not available on the investor section of PTCL site as of this writing but I hope that the details will be posted there soon. It will be interesting to watch the stock performance after these results and the recent announcement by Etisalat about acquiring controlling stakes. The analysts comments below are worth reading.

Highlights of PTCL financial results 2006-07:

  1. PTCL earned net profit of 15.64 billion rupees ($258 million) for the year ended on June 30, down 25% from previous year. Earnings per share fell to 3.07 rupees from 4.07 rupees. This was in line with the market expectations of 15.41 billion rupees to 17.69 billion rupees range. 
  2. The company said its revenue for the year fell to PKR65.28 billion, from PKR69.08 billion a year earlier.
  3. Operating costs increased to PKR46.56 billion, compared with PKR41.69 billion a year earlier.
  4. PTCL announced a cash dividend of 2.0 rupees per share, its first payout for 2006-07.

Analysts Are Optimistic

As reported by Reuters, Analysts said the fall in profits was a result of lower revenue from international and domestic call traffic and increased competition from new market players.

“Since the implementation of deregulation policies in the domestic telecom sector, the company is facing immense competition from new players, especially in the long-distance and international calls segment,” said Abrar Hussain, an analyst at First Capital Equities Limited.

But analysts said PTCL’s profitability is expected to rise in coming years as it expands network and attracts more customers.

“We anticipate an 11 percent annual growth in net profit of the company during the next three years,” said Abrar Hussain, an analyst at First Capital Equities. PTCL’s profitability growth is to result from the cumulative impact of expanded fixed line network, including profit of 20.78 billion rupees last year.

“The company has potential to grow in the longer run if the management succeeds in implementing steps for network expansion, service customization, cost-cuttingand the introduction of new services and efficiency measures,” said Hifza Zia, an analyst at Atlas Capital Market.

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Telenor Wins First Universal Service Fund Bid In Pakistan

Published by Babar Bhatti on September 14, 2007 under Digital Divide, Emerging Markets Telecom, Government Regulations, Infrastructure, Investment, Mobile Companies, Networks, Pakistan, Telecommunications

mappk.jpgAccording to Daily Times, Telenor has won the first USF bidding which was for Malakand area. There will be other biddings for Sukkur,  Sibi, Chaghi, DG Khan and Attock. I hope the first phase work starts soon.

For more background on USF plans in Pakistan, see this prior post. More from the paper:

Telenor Pakistan won the final stage of technical and financial bidding for Universal Service Fund (USF), leaving Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Co Limited (PTCL), Warid Telecom and CMPak out of the competition, industry sources told Daily Times on Wednesday.

Sources said Warid Telecom and CMPak were unable to qualify for the technical bid. While in the financial bid for 1,200 villages of the Malakand division, on the higher end PTCL bid was Rs 1,748 million and Telenor’s was Rs 310 million, giving no choice to USF but to announce Telenor as the winner of the first bid decision. The decision will be announced within a couple of days.

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