KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has decided to convert its exposures into Pak Rupee instead of US dollar.
The management of the company shared these views at a conference call on Thursday. The company also informed that it had incurred an exchange loss of Rs323 million on account depreciation of Pak Rupee.
According to the analysts the management had informed that to mitigate currency devaluation impact in future the company is converting exposures into local currency instead of US dollar.
The group’s profitability during CY18 witnessed an uptick of 7 percent YoY, settling at Rs5,710 million compared against Rs4,318 million in CY17, higher revenues from Ufone and Ubank of 13 percent and 64 percent YoY, respectively.
On sequential basis, a Profit after Tax of Rs1,764 million compared to Loss after Tax of Rs1,024 million in SPLY, up by 13 percent YoY.
The group’s growth in profitability is contributed by PTCL, Ufone and Ubank, growing by 39 percent, 70 percent and 86 percent YoY, respectively.
Ufone benefited by Rs775 million from Supreme Court’s verdict of removal of advance tax on prepaid mobile cards.
Topline of the company during 4QCY18 jumped up by 13 percent YoY, arriving at Rs32,953 million from Rs29,138 million in 4QCY17 amid growth in PTCL, Ufone and Ubank’s revenues by 3 percent, 21 percent and 61 percent YoY, respectively. This takes CY18 revenue to Rs126,160 million, registering an up tick of 7 percent YoY.
During this period Ufone’s subscribers jumped to 24 million from 22 million. PTCL’s sales were attributable to rise in Wireline Data, Corporate Services and Wholesale revenues by 6 percent, 9 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Moreover, in DSL segment percentage of subscribers in 4 mbps & above package surged from 49 percent in December 2017 to 65 percent in December 2018.
The group’s EBITDA grew by 7 percent YoY during 4QCY18, with Ufone and Ubank showing a growth 26 percent and 98 percent YoY, respectively.
However, PTCL’s EBITDA was hit by 7 percent YoY on account of Pak Rupee devaluation against greenback tagged with higher fuel, power, cables, media and SAC prices.
During the conference call the management informed analysts that Ufone has launched 4G/LTE services in Islamabad and Rawalpindi and will launch in Lahore and Karachi soon.
Management also informed that Ubank has expanded to 140 branches throughout the country. Ubank is offering micro-financing in rural areas. Ubank currently has a single digit growth.
