SLT Group profit tops Rs. 4.8 b for nine months
Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) released its Group and Company financial
results for the nine months ended September 30, 2011. The Group consists
of parent company Sri Lanka Telecom PLC and seven subsidiaries including
the company’s mobile arm Mobitel (Pvt) Ltd., (Mobitel).
The group recorded a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 4.82 b during the
nine months ended September 30, 2011, a 29% increase from the
corresponding period of the previous year.
|
Chairman
Nimal Welgama |
SLT group has been able to manage the operating and financing costs
below that incurred during the corresponding period of the previous year
in line with the initiatives taken by the group to improve its
operational efficiencies, strengthen prudent cost management practices
and reductions from revenue driven cost.
The Group reported revenue of Rs 37.47 b for the first nine months of
2011 with impressive revenue growth in Broad Band and PEO TV. SLT also
reached another milestone in quarter three by recording 250,000 fixed
Broad Band subscribers.
The group Profit After Tax (PAT) for the first nine months of 2011
has increased to Rs 3.49 b recording a growth of 46%, while group EBITDA
improved by 4% to Rs 13.1b. Group KPIs of EBITDA and NPAT margins
improved at the group level from 34% to 35% and from 6% to 9%
respectively, when compared to the corresponding period of the previous
year.
Net cash generated from operating activities of the Group improved by
26% to Rs 14.89 b during the period under review.
The group has invested Rs 10.98 b in plant and equipment during this
period, mainly for capacity expansion, coverage expansion and network
modernization.
Meanwhile, the parent company SLT significantly increased its PBT by
57% to Rs 3.69b compared to Rs 2.35b of the corresponding period of the
previous year. The company’s PAT increased from Rs 1.40 b of the first
nine months from the corresponding period of the previous year to Rs
2.71b, achieving a growth of 93%. EBITDA of the Company for the period
under review has increased by 8% to Rs 8.3b.
The KPIs of the company, EBITDA margin and NPAT margin have both
improved to 34% from 31% and to 11% from 6% respectively compared to the
previous year.
Commenting on the company’s performance, SLT Group Chairman Nimal
Welgama stated that the performance of SLT Group in the period from
January to September this year is satisfying. He said “SLT continues to
champion the Government’s mandate to ensure ICT access Islandwide. The
company’s flagship project, ‘i Sri Lanka’ initiative launched recently
will ensure of ICT empowerment even in the most rural areas of the
island”.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2011, Mobitel reported a PBT
of Rs 1.49 b, a 9% growth. The profit growth attained during the period
under review by Mobitel is a result of an 8% growth in the revenue of
the company over the same period of 2010. In absolute terms, revenue of
Rs 15.94b in the first nine months of 2011 was recorded by Mobitel
compared to Rs 14.76b in the first nine months of 2010, an increase of
over Rs 1.17b.
This growth was achieved due to an increase in the subscriber base by
15% by end September 2011 compared to same period in 2010 complemented
by growth in Broadband, which is emerging as a new engine of growth in
the industry.
The bottom line of Mobitel was able to withstand the negative impact
created by having to pay interconnection for the entire period under
review compared to 2010 as the interconnection regime was brought into
force only in mid 2010.
|