PTCL CFO calls for cut in taxes in upcoming budget

Nadeem Khan, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) PTCL group, called for implementing a decision to slash withholding tax in the upcoming budget 2022-23.

While responding to questions on the occasion of briefing on PTCL financial results, he said that the previous government announced reducing withholding tax in two phases.

PTI government had announced in the previous budget to slash withholding tax from 12.5 to 10 per cent in the first phase and 8.5 per cent in July this year.

However, the government had withdrawn a decision and increased the withholding tax to 12.5 per cent against the 10 per cent withholding tax in January.

CEO PTCL Group wants Fair Environment to Participate 5G auction

Due to withdrawing the cut in withholding tax rates, Ufone had faced an annual loss of Rs 3 billion. Due to this, he said that withholding tax went up from Rs 15billion to Rs 18 billion.

He said that FBR had not paid Rs 9 billion tax refunds although all courts had established it.

Furthermore, he said that the PTCL group had started putting 3G sites on 4G network after acquiring an additional spectrum.

He hoped that PTCL would put all its sites on the 4G network in the next few months.

CFO said that PTCL had expected the upfront cost of acquiring an additional spectrum that pulled down profit. He said that it would put pressure on Group.

However, he added that some unexpected things pulled down profits. They were an increase in interest rates and devaluation of the rupee against dollars that had a financial impact on PTCL group revenues.

Financial Results

On Wednesday, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) announced its financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, at its Board of Directors’ meeting held in Islamabad on April 13, 2022.

The key drivers in revenue growth were the consumer segment on fixed Broadband, Mobile Data, and Business Solutions.

Microfinance services supported the Group in achieving a 3.2% growth in revenues over the comparative period despite the challenges of increasing Advance Income Tax (AIT) and reducing Mobile Termination Rates (MTR).

PTCL Group registered Rs 35.1 billion in Q1, 2022, posting 3.2% higher growth than last year’s previous period.

However, the profitability remained under stress following a significant hike in power tariffs.