SLT posts Rs. 60.1 bln revenue
View(s):Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) posted a group revenue of Rs. 60.1 billion with 5.9 per cent growth for the financial year 2013 when compared to the previous year, a company media release said.
SLT group comprises the holding Company Sri Lanka Telecom (PLC) and six other subsidiaries including the group mobile arm Mobitel (Pvt.) Ltd. “The growth of revenue was mainly driven by the revenue increases of SLT, the holding company and Mobitel,” the release added, noting that the group has been able to manage its operational costs at Rs. 4.12 billion with a sustainable increase of 6.2 per cent compared to the previous years.
The group reported Rs. 18 per cent Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) for the year 2013. Healthy revenue growth coupled with operating cost management, increased EBITDA by 5.3 per cent when compared to the previous year. EBITDA margin remained at 31.5 per cent.
The increase in EBITDA and favourable outcome of non-operational affairs resulted in an impressive 25.9 per cent Year on Year (YoY) growth of Group Net Profit Before Tax (NPBT) of the year under review to Rs. 7.4 billion. The Group Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) increased to Rs. 5.4 billion with 38.2 per cent growth YoY while the group NPAT for the 4Q2013 dropped by 3.1per cent QoQ to Rs. 1.5 billion due to taxation.
The holding company Sri Lanka Telecom (PLC), recorded Rs. 36.8 billion revenue during the year 2013 with 5.9 per cent growth compared to the year before while reporting 5.8 per cent QoQ growth with Rs. 9.9 billion in revenue gained during the 4Q2013. “This revenue growth was driven by outstanding performance of non-voice services including Broadband and PEO TV, despite negative growth of voice and international service sectors – a worldwide trend,” the release said.
The company EBITDA grew up by 7.3 per cent of the year before. The revenue increase and prudent operating cost management at 5.5 per cent YoY increase to Rs. 26.8 billion has resulted in improvements to the EBITDA.
Mobitel recorded a sales turnover of Rs. 27.5 billion in 2013 compared to Rs. 24.9 billion in 2012 an increase of Rs. 2.6 billion. For the fourth quarter of 2013 Mobitel reported revenue exceeding Rs. 7 billion which is a increase by 9 per cent compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, the release added. “Although the Sri Lankan voice market subscriber penetration has reached saturation, Mobitel continued its growth in 2013 as well with Mobitel subscriber base crossed the 5 million subscriber mark.” Mobitel reported an NPAT of Rs. 2.4 billion against Rs. 1.1 billion in the financial year 2012, recording an improvement of 115.2 per cent. Profits for 2012 were significantly affected by the depreciation of the rupee during the given year which eroded profits.
Higher depreciation and interest costs are attributed to the new investments in technology and network expansion during the same year. The sharp increase in profitability is also attributable to optimum asset utilization, increased productivity and relatively stable macro environment that prevailed during the year 2013. Although there was a devaluation of the rupee in 2013 as well it was marginal thus profits were not affected as in 2012.