The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) announced 1H2013 consolidated earnings per share (EPS) of Rs1.54 as against Rs0.23 in 1H2012.
In 2Q, the company posted EPS of Rs0.89 versus 0.65 in 1Q2013. The result was accompanied by an interim cash dividend payout of Rs1 per share. In 1H2013 PTCL’s revenues rose by 4.8 percent to Rs65.6 billion while the cost of sales also increased by 8.2 percent to Rs41.4 billion. Resultantly, gross margin declined by 200bps to 36.8 percent. “This marked increase in earning in 1H in contrast to last year was attributable to the absence of the Voluntary Separation Scheme(VSS),” said Topline Research’s Zeeshan Afzal.
On quarterly basis, the 36 percent increase in profitability was attributed to a 3.7percent increase in revenues to Rs33.4 billion while the gross margin also improved by 250bps to 38.1percent.
“As foreign incoming minutes declined in 2Q, the improvement in revenues was linked to a growth in broadband and fixed line revenues,” Afzal said. The company’s admin and selling expenses, he said, remained stable at Rs6.4 billion while financial charges fell by 33.5percent to Rs711 million.
