SLT profits soar by 76 %

Sri Lanka Telecom Ltd this week announced a record breaking increase in its net profit of Rs 5.4 billion, up 76 percent in 2005, for the fiscal year ending in 31 December 2006. Revenue totalled Rs.40.7 billion, up by 25% from the earlier year. Shoji Takahashi, Chief Executive Officer, discussing the results, said "the unparalleled growth in the net profit for 2006 is clearly a historical landmark for Sri Lanka Telecom. It acts as a catalyst in raising us to new heights in the ever competitive and evolving world of telecommunication.

Our strategic initiatives are well-aligned with the growth segments of the fast changing telecommunication industry, and we are poised for sustained value creation for our customers and shareholders". A company statement said the revenue from local voice services attained a 29% increase supported by steady per line revenue of existing wired line customers joint with the revenue acquired by the supplying of over 200, 000 CDMA connections.

There was a significant increase in the incoming traffic and a marginal decrease in the outgoing traffic which attributed to the growth in the International voice traffic revenue by 4% in 2006. International voice business has been facing a fierce competition and SLT took a strategic decision in enhancing MaxTalk prepaid card business operating on voice over internet protocol (VoIP) platform.

Mobitel, the mobile subsidiary of SLT, posted a sharp increase in revenue by 49% in 2006 as a result of revenue increase achieved from diversified services and a 111% growth in its customer base. A one time expenditure of Rs. 425 million was charged for the Voluntary Retirement Scheme initiated by Sri Lanka Telecom in 2006. Mobitel doubled its customer base during 2006 to nearly 900,000 customers. It achieved a revenue increase of 49% and more importantly registered sustained profits during the last three quarters.