SLT group net profit up 42% to Rs. 1,570m in 3 Q 2006

Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT), the leading fixed line telecommunication operator in Sri Lanka reported an after tax group profit of Rs. 3,870 million during the first nine months of the year, a 55% increase when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The net profit of the group for the third quarter of 2006 was Rs. 1,570 million, a 42% increase compared to the corresponding period of 2005. The group revenue for the period was Rs. 29,879 million, a 27% increase when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The local revenue of the company comprising Rental charges, Deferred new connection charges, CDMA revenue, Call Charges and Local Interconnection revenue increased by Rs. 4,713 million to Rs. 18,275 million when compared to 2005. All revenue streams have grown.

The revenue corresponding to international incoming traffic or international in payment revenue has increased from Rs. 3,836 million last year to Rs. 4,333 million this year by 13%, whereas the revenue corresponding to international outgoing traffic has dipped by Rs. 164 million to Rs. 1,816 million, mainly due to the competitive nature of the business.

However, the overall international revenue has increased by 6% or Rs. 333 million to Rs. 6,149 million when compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.

The other operating income which is represented by Internet and Data oriented services, have increased by 6% to Rs. 1,970 million when compared to the first nine months of the previous year.

Whilst revenue grew by 24%, the company has curtailed the increase of its operating cost to 19% or Rs. 1,707 million, of which Rs. 1,590 million was for CDMA cost of sales, a new cost item for the period. Additionally the personnel cost has increased by 15% to Rs. 3,247 million mainly due to increases in the emolument packages given to the employees considering the increase in the cost-of-living.

During the third quarter Mobitel made a profit of Rs. 23 million, thereby reducing the cumulative loss of the nine months to Rs. 167 million. During the nine months, the subsidiary made revenue of Rs.3,872 million, while increasing the customer base to 688,000.