COLOMBO: The leader in fixed-line telephony operations, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), saw its group net profit for the June quarter (2Q15) dipping 29 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.1.8 billion despite its mobile telephony business reporting higher profits.
The earnings per share for the quarter fell to Rs.1 from Rs.1.34 reported in the same quarter of the previous year (2Q14).
The revenue for the quarter edged up 4 percent YoY to Rs.16.8 billion while the operating costs rose 7 percent YoY to Rs.11.5 billion, resulting in a flat operating profit of Rs.2 billion.
The absence of the Telecommunication Development Charge (TDC) refund in the quarter under review was a major setback as the group received a Rs.699 million TDC in 2Q15.
Meanwhile, for the first half ended June 30, 2015 (1H15), the group reported a net profit of Rs.3.32 billion, up 13 percent YoY. The earnings per share improved to Rs.1.93 from Rs.1.64.
The fixed-line operations of the group reported a revenue of Rs.19.9 billion for 1H15 with a pre-tax profit of Rs.1.9 billion, down from Rs.2 billion in 1H14.
The mobile operations carried out by Mobitel saw its revenue increasing to Rs.16.1 billion from Rs.14.7 billion. The pre-tax profit rose to Rs.2.5 billion from Rs.1.72 billion.
The other operations, which include property, publications, education, etc., reported a revenue of Rs.1.25 billion, down from Rs.1.3 billion. The segment’s pre-tax profit fell significantly to Rs.30 million from Rs.320 million.
As of June 30, 2015, the government held a 49.5 percent stake in SLT while Global Telecommunications Holdings NV, a unit of Malaysia’s Maxies, held a 44.98 percent stake.
The state-controlled private sector pension fund, the Employees’ Provident Fund, held 1.34 percent of the company.
