Nepal Telecom’s Revenue Grows By NRs.1 Billion In Q3 2077/78

Nepal Telecom’s revenue grows by NRs. 1 billion in the third quarter of the current fiscal year 2077/78 as the number of active users grows.

The state-owned telco Nepal Telecom (NTC) released its financial reports for the third quarter of the 2077/78 fiscal year which shows the company’s incremental growth in revenues by about NRs. 1 billion.

Last fiscal year, the company collected NRs. 8.8 billion revenue in the third quarter while in the current run, it has collected a hefty NRs. 9.72 billion in the third quarter.

As per the stats, the telco earned a total revenue of NRs. 8.63 billion in the first quarter, followed by NRs. 9.8 billion in the second quarter. The revenue in the third quarter rose by a significant 7% (than that of Q2 2077/78) which amounts to NRs. 63 crores, 68 lakhs.

The current service revenues in the three quarters of the 2077/78 fiscal year (Shrawan-Chaitra) is an increase of 2.29% from the previous fiscal year 2076/77 (same period) with a total of NRs. 27.45 billion in amount.

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Active Users Have Grown

“The financial reports have improved due to the growth of active users as well as an increase in FTTH subscribers”, pointed out NTC’s Managing Director Dilliram Adhikari. The company added the highest number of FTTH customers in the pandemic period, among all ISPs.

He followed with the stats that NTC’s active users have grown by 10 lakhs from the previous year.

However, the report is not all positive for the largest telecom operator in the country. Despite a strong showing in its revenues, the company’s net profits have seen a decline in comparison to the first nine months of the previous Fiscal Year 2076/77.

The company has accumulated a total profit of 5.88 billion in the first nine months of the current Fiscal Year. This is a decrease from NRs.7.56 billion of profits the company collected during the first 9 months (Shrawan-Chaitra) of the previous Fiscal Year. It means NTC saw a reduction in profit of about NRs. 1.68 billion this term.

Reasons for NTC’s Profit Decline

Nepal Telecom pointed to several reasons for the net profit drop. Such as:

• Due to the obvious effects of COVID-19 on global trades.
• Slashed interest rates have lessened the earnings from the company’s deposits in banks and other financial institutions.
• Offering data packages at minimum costs during the lockdown period has also shrunk the profit margin.
• A massive slump in revenues from Roaming services due to travel bans.
• An increase in the use of OTT platforms has drive users away from NTC’s services.
• An increase in employees’ minimum wages, expenses in maintenance, and changes in money exchange have added more financial liabilities.
• Investments in 4G and FTTH expansion have also furthered NTC’s expenditures this term.

Check out: Why do Telecom operator loose earnings with COVID Pandemic?

Internet Consumption Continues To Climb

The lockdown after the COVID-19 breakout has resulted in an incredible raise in NTC’s data consumption. As most people started “working from home”, going digital has become the norm. As a result, smartphone users subscribed to data packs in various ranges. Read more on Internet usage increased with the pandemic in Nepal.

NTC’s MD Adhikari said that from Baisakh onwards, data consumption has grown by 28%. In addition to this, fixed-line broadband ADSL and FTTH bandwidth use have risen by 30% since the same period.

Until Magh, NTC had 25 lakhs and 44 thousand subscribers of 4G while 88 lakhs and 60 thousand customers on the 3G network. Similarly, the telco has about 8 lakhs 37 thousand ADSL users, and 4 lakhs, and 43 thousand FTTH customers.

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What do you think of NTC’s growth amidst the lockdown? Are you satisfied with the services offered by the national telco? Let us know your opinion in the comments section.