Sri Lanka Telecom PLC sees first quarter profits dip 83% YoY

Sri Lanka Telecom PLC saw its profits for the quarter ended 31 March (1Q24) dip 83.8 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) to Rs. 156 million from 957 million recorded in 1Q23 due to lower operating profit and reduced interest income due to declining interest rates.

The entity recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs. 822 million, which is a 48 percent contraction from Rs. 1.59 billion recorded in 1Q23.

The group revenue expanded marginally by 1.4 percent YoY to Rs. 26.93 billion. 

SLT saw its other income dip drastically by 60 percent YoY from Rs. 759 million to Rs. 303 million for the period under review. 

In a statement that followed the filing of the financial results at the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), SLT said 1Q24 presented a volatile business landscape, with macroeconomic factors impacting the top line performance. 
“However, SLT-Mobitel swiftly implemented strategic cost optimisation measures, which enabled the company to realise significant operational cost savings of 2.7 percent at the Group level,” SLT PLC CEO Janaka  Abeysinghe said. 
EBITDA increased by 10.3 percent Year-on-year (YoY), which SLT said is due to cost-saving efforts including rationalising annual maintenance costs, vehicle hiring charges, international settlement charges, and repair and maintenance expenses. 

SLT noted that the group’s operating profit declined by 1.9 percent due to higher depreciation expenses resulting from substantial investments in capital expenditure programmes. 

Looking ahead, SLT-Mobitel is confident in the long-term growth prospects of the Sri Lankan economy and the business with significant investments made, particularly in the SEA-ME-WE 6 (South East Asia-Middle East -Western Europe) undersea cable system, the entity said.

The SEA-ME-WE 6 undersea cable system is expected to provide SLT-Mobitel with increased international bandwidth capacity and improved connectivity, further strengthening the company’s position in the telecommunication industry.