Dialog posts Rs10.13bn profits for 2007

Dialog Telekom PLC announced an overview of its financial performance for the Financial Year ended December 31, 2007. The company recorded a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 10.13 bln up one per cent relative to the year ended December 31, 2006, the company said yesterday.

The company's mobile business exhibited strong growth with mobile revenues growing by 24 per cent YoY and totalling Rs. 31.13 billion.

The company's international business segment continued to exhibit aggressive growth with Revenue Growth of 51 per cent YoY and contributions of 12 per cent and six per cent to the company's revenue and bottom lines respectively.

Financial results published include those for the entity Dialog Telekom PLC and for the Dialog Telekom Group derived from a consolidation of company performance with those of its subsidiaries Dialog Broadband Networks (Pvt) Ltd (DBN) and Dialog Television (Pvt). Ltd (DTV).

The company's revenue potential was diluted by intermittent disruption of services in the Northern and Eastern provinces during the first half of 2007 and a reduction in tourist arrivals which in turn diluted International Roaming Revenues relative to their full potential.

The company also experienced operational and direct cost expansion during the second half of 2007 largely arising from the macro-environment as well as from the application of aggressive focus on the roll-out of multiple new services and expansion of subscriber base.

The company invested aggressively in network infrastructure during 2007 resulting in large scale expansion of its GSM and 3G/HSPA service coverage across the country. New coverage areas encompassed a large number of rural towns including but not limited to Deberawewa, Koslanda, Udadumbara and Diyagama, and spread across all nine provinces of the country.

The rapid and efficient deployment of investments extended strong support to a 37 per cent growth in mobile subscribers and the extensive expansion of 3G/HSPA services to cover most key cities and towns in Sri Lanka.

Dialog's 3G/HSPA network now empowers communities in most provinces with high speed broadband and other 3rd Generation Services delivering manifold enhancement to the quality and capacity of telecommunications infrastructure services available to consumers in outlying regions of the country.

The Company also commissioned the first phase of its Fibre Optic Transmission network in the city of Colombo.

Dialog Telekom announced an aggressive tariff reduction with a view to expanding the market space and capturing an increasing proportion of incremental subscribers, through the enhancement of the affordability of its services. The tariff reduction featured discounting of key tariff dimensions by up to 50% resulting in an overall increase in affordability by over 35%.

In its wider scope of operations across multiple connectivity technologies and services, the Dialog Telekom Group enhanced the affordability of WLL Fixed Line Services through a revolutionary tariff regime for CDMA services, reduction of entry barriers to fixed broadband services in tandem with the launch of WiMax services and the introduction of a entry level service plan for Digital Pay Television services featuring an unprecedented level of affordability at Rs. 100 per month.