SLT March profits soar

15 May 2015 03:04 am

 Sri Lanka Telecom PLC (SLT), the largest fixed line telephony operator in the country said its March quarter (1Q15) net profit surged 201 percent year-on-year to Rs.1.6 billion on the back of higher top line gains.
 The group revenue for the quarter rose 9 percent yoy to Rs.16.7 billion while costs being static at Rs.11.1 billion compared to the same quarter of the previous year. 
 As a result, the operating profits rose 190 percent yoy to Rs.2.35 billion. 

 The group incurred a foreign exchange loss of Rs.284 million during the quarter under review against a gain of Rs.23 million yoy. 
 The basic earnings per share improved to Rs.93 cents from 30 cents.
 The fixed telephony operations of the group recorded a revenue of Rs.9.86 billion, up from Rs.9.4 billion yoy.
The pre-tax profit of the segment also rose to Rs.982 million from Rs.318 million.
 The fixed line telephony growth was driven by local non-voice revenue streams such as data and broadband, enterprise, SME, wholesales sectors and IPTV.
 
“Introduction of a high capacity IPTV system, expansions in broadband and data services, investments in infrastructure developments etc. have largely contributed to the revenue growth,” SLT said.
 
The mobile operations of the group carried out by Mobitel  Lanka saw its revenue rising12 percent yoy to Rs.8.1 billion.
 
Pre-tax profit of the segment rose to Rs.1.2 billion from Rs.758 million. 
 
The revenue of other segments, which include property, publications, education etc, also increased to Rs.499 million from Rs.382 million. 
 
However, despite the higher revenue, the segments reported a loss before tax of Rs.21 million, narrowing from a loss of Rs.73 million reported in the same quarter of the previous year.