CEO PTCL Group wants Fair Environment to Participate 5G auction
Hatem Bamatraf, president and the CEO PTCL group has shown willingness to participate G5 auction subject to licensing conditions and amount of auction.
He said that they would participate like other service providers depending on licensing conditions and terms and auction amount.
CEO also denied the rumors that Ufone was currently in the process of acquiring any other telecom company, however, he added that the options are always open in the businesses.
He was addressing his maiden news conference here in the PTCL headquarters since taking the charge as the head of the PTCL group in May 2021.
Without naming any entity, the CEO PTCL group said that were looking at the market. However, CEO PTCL said they were not in the process of mergers and accusations.
Merger and Acquisation
But it does not mean that we will not consider any opportunity available if it is available.” Mr. Bamatraf added.
He was responding to a question regarding rumors circulating in the telecom circles that one of the four telcos operating in Pakistan was planning to offload their assets, and the Ufone was vying to buy it to enhance its outreach.
Similarly, the head of the largest telecom group in the country did not express eagerness to enter into the 5G auction process.
He said that the decision will be taken based on market position, and the conditions set by the government in the auction process.
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However, Mr. Bamatraf highlighted that the company plans to strengthen its presence as the only telecom company that offers a complete solution towards digitization which also includes operating a microfinance bank – the Ubank.
PTCL Revenue Growth
He also highlighted that the PTCL has posted the highest-ever revenue growth in nine years.
He informed about the annual financial results for 2021, showing that the PTCL Group posted revenue of Rs138 billion in 2021 which was 6.3 percent higher than the previous year.
While the net profit of the PTCL group for the year was Rs2.6 bn, with a decline of 21 percent over the previous year owing to the investments in the 4G spectrum by Ufone.
While Ufone posted revenue growth of 4.3 percent in the year mainly driven by growth in data services, its net profit declined by 52 percent for investments in additional spectrum.
The key identities of the PTCL Group included the PTCL, Ufone, and the Ubank.
At the same time, the PTCL posted a 7 percent revenue growth at Rs77 bn over the previous year, which is also the highest since 2013.
With high Fixed broadband Sales and fast growth in the fiber to the home (FTTH) operations, the company has posted a net profit of Rs6.9 bn in 2021 which is 14 percent higher than 2020.
The U-Bank showed 8.4 percent in revenue growth and net profit of 23 percent.
