ZUBAIR QURESHI
ISLAMABAD Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), the country’s leading telecom and ICT services provider, has announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2020 at its Board of Directors’ (BoD) meeting held on Thursday. Covid-19 pandemic has created global shockwaves and its effects have changed the landscape of every perceptible area of ordinary life. PTCL stands with the nation in this tough time and continues to provide seamless connectivity across Pakistan. Our frontline teams, equipped with all protective gears, are at the forefront to serve our customers nationwide. The company has enabled more than 1,200 contact center agents with ‘work from home’ facilities to ensure that due social distancing is maintained, while serving the connectivity needs of our customers. To ensure continuity of essential services for our valued customers, certain customer service centers have also been kept open. Our sales and customer care teams are constantly in touch with our corporate customers to cater, not only, to their existing requirements, but to also address any new customer needs emanating from COVID-19 pandemic. PTCL Group’s revenue of Rs 31.8 billion during first quarter (Q-1 2020) is lower by 5pc as compared to the same period in the last year. When normalized for the impact of certain regulatory changes, the revenue is 3pc higher than Q-1 2019 on a like-for-like basis. UBank, a microfinance banking subsidiary of PTCL, continued its growth momentum and has achieved a 44pc growth in its quarterly revenue over last year. The group’s operating profit and bottom line have deteriorated over last year due to rupee devaluation, increase in interest rates, higher power tariffs and the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. PTCL revenue of Rs 17.7 billion for the quarter is 1 pc lower than last year but on a likefor-like basis the revenue is stable and at par with Q-1 2019. In line with its customer-centric organization, PTCL is focusing on uplifting customer experience by various initiatives. This, coupled with PTCL’s improved and upgraded network infrastructure, will enable the Company to be a service provider of choice for its customers. The corporate and wholesale businesses continued their growth momentum and have achieved an 8pc overall
