Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, has announced its financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2020 at its Board of Directors’ meeting and according to the figures the company posted Rs2.7 billion half yearly profit (up to June 30, 2020).
This shows the PTCL Group’s revenue of Rs 62.9Billion for the half-year is lower by 5% as compared to the same period of last year, says a statement issued here Wednesday.
The Board’s meeting that held on Wednesday at the PTCL’s head office it was stated, that after the onset of Covid-19 pandemic earlier this year, the country is witnessing a gradual come back to a new ‘normal’ in which the economic activities are carefully being resumed while adhering to due counter measures for containing the effects of the pandemic.
However, with its extensive network footprint, PTCL has successfully played its role as the communication backbone of the country in these testing times, says a statement issued by the company adding, “PTCL’s dedicated frontline workers, who have been continuously on the ground despite the pandemicand our diligent customer care teams have ensured uninterrupted service delivery for our valued customers.
If normalized for the impact of Covid-19 and certain regulatory changes affecting Ufone, PTCL Group’s revenue is 2.5% higher than 2019 on a like-for-like basis. U Bank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of PTCL, continued its growth momentum and has achieved a 45% growth in its revenue over last year. The Group’s operating profit and bottom line have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and rupee devaluation.
PTCL’s revenue of Rs 35.3 Billion for the half-year is 1% lower than last year. If normalized for the impact of Covid-19, the like-for-like revenue is stable and slightly higher than the same period of last year.
PTCL witnessed an exponential growth in the internet traffic during the pandemic which was facilitated through timely expansion at Content Delivery Network (CDN) domain to improve customer experience and optimize international bandwidth. As the pandemic still continues to be a challenge for Pakistan, PTCL ensured connectivity for more people with its wireline and wireless products during this quarter which has resulted in improved Charji revenues, along with addition of more than 15 thousand fixed broadband customers in Q2, 2020.
PTCL was able to curtail the churn rate, convert more customers to digital payments and resolve more than 50% complaints on spot through its efficient Customer Services by focusing on customer experience and engagement.
