Sri Lanka Telecom PLC Group released its financial results for the three months ending March 31, 2020.
The total revenue for the quarter recorded Rs. 22.1 bn, which is a 3.8% growth compared to the Rs. 21.3 bn during the corresponding period in 2019.
Stringent measures were taken to manage operational cost and investments in capital expenditure, which resulted in Cost savings of 5% for the quarter amounting to Rs.704 mn. The quarter under reference registered an increase in depreciation cost as well as provisioning requirement of Rs. 536 mn as per the new SLFRS regulations for overdue debtors. Despite the above facts the Group Operating profit for the quarter recorded Rs. 3.2 bn, an improvement of 28.6% compared to the previous year.
Due to the depreciation of the Sri Lanka Rupee arising from the Pandemic situation, the total Forex loss for the Group was Rs. 683 mn, which is a substantial increase against the Rs.172 mn gain for the corresponding period in 2019.
Increased borrowings over the last few years for infrastructure development has raised the financial cost of the Group by Rs. 317 mn for the quarter. The Group net profit recorded Rs.1.9 bn for the quarter, which is a 14.6% decline compared to the previous year. This is due to provisioning for overdue debtors, exchange loss and increase in financial cost. During the period under reference, the SLT Group paid out a total of Rs. 4.4 bn direct and indirect taxes and levies to the Government of Sri Lanka.
The latter part of the quarter was affected by the pandemic, which required stringent health precautions and work from home operating modules.
The SLT Group, being the foremost National Telecommunication Service provider connecting most of the essential services, implemented business continuity plans to ensure an uninterrupted quality service to the Nation. The SLT Group also provided a multitude of bundled telecom packages at concessionary rates and free offers of data to certain segments.