Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, has announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019 at its Board of Directors’ meeting held here on Tuesday.
PTCL’s Board of Directors has declared a final cash dividend of 5% i.e. Re 0.50 per share, which is in addition to the interim cash dividend of 5% i.e. Re 0.50 per share. The total dividend for the year thus stands at 10% i.e. Re 1.00 per share.
PTCL Group’s revenue has shown a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 2.1% to reach Rs 129.5 billion. All Group companies have contributed positively towards this growth. Ufone continued its acquisition drive in 2019 to cross 23 million subscribers resulting in an improved market share. U Bank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of PTCL, has shown significant growth of 48% in its revenue over last year as a result of a rapid expansion in its branch network. PTCL Group posts operating profit and net profit for the year of Rs 6.7 billion and Rs 2.4 billion respectively. Decrease in profits is attributable to higher inflation, significant rupee devaluation, increase in interest rates and hike in power tariffs.
PTCL revenue of Rs 71.5 billion for the year is slightly higher than last year. PTCL’s flagship fixed broadband services posted a revenue growth of 5% YoY. Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH), deployed in 11 major cities of Pakistan, has enhanced the value proposition of PTCL brand. The recent upgrade in its fixed line network infrastructure has enabled PTCL to significantly reduce customer complaints and offer high speed internet packages to its customers. In addition to the network upgrade, PTCL also took other customer centric initiatives like experience management, implementation of customer-care systems and adoption of related best practices. This year, PTCL has been recognized for its customer services at the 14th annual CEM Telecom Awards during the Telecom Global Summit held in London.
