NT profits up 31 pc

KATHMANDU, March 29: Nepal Telecom (NT) - the stated-owned telecom heavyweight - earned a net profit of Rs 10.18 billion in fiscal year 2008/09, up 31 pc from the earning recorded in the same period last year. The per share income of the telecom giant also increased by 28 percent to Rs 67.85.



The second general meeting of Nepal Telecommunications Company also approved the proposal to provide 35 percent dividend (per share Rs 35) to shareholders. The total asset of NT has been evaluated at Rs 46.38 billion which is 28 percent more than what was recorded a year earlier. The AGM also approved the proposal for investment diversification, paving the way for the telecom giant to invest in other lucrative sectors. [break]



Addressing the second annual general meeting on Monday, Sushil Ghimire, chairman of Nepal Telecommunications Company, said NT has put investment in hydropower sector in its priority list as per its profit maximization policy. He also informed that the investment in Upper Tamakoshi Hydro Electric Project (UTHEP) is at the implementation phase and negotiations were on to invest in Trishuli 3B project.



NT has decided to invest Rs 6 billion in UTHEP. It can invest around Rs 20 billion in various profitable projects.



Ghimire said total earning of NT has more than doubled in the last four years. NT managed to increase its total income by 25 percent to Rs 22.15 billion in fiscal year 2008/09 than the preceding fiscal year.



“Existing geographical divide in the country has reduced to a great extent due to the availability of telecommunication facilities in distant and remote areas,” Ghimire said.



NT has expanded its PSTN service in all the 75 districts. It is putting high emphasis to expand services to 199 Village Development Committees (VDCs) that do not have telecommunication infrastructures so far.



NT has distributed 570,000 landlines and 3.558 million mobile phones till the end of December/January in the current fiscal year. The company has been providing services like PSTN, GSM mobile service, CDMA, V-SAT and ADSL internet service among others.



The telecom giant plans to increase in subscribers´ base to around 7 million within the current fiscal year. It plans to distribute 2.20 million mobile connections, 450,000 CDMA line, 56,000 PSTN and 29,000 ADSL connections.



Ghimire also informed that NT was enjoying a market penetration of 7.84 users per 100 population.



Speaking on the occasion, NT shareholders demanded the management to further increase dividends, issue right shares and bonus shares, introduce free calls facility for shareholders, and provide jobs and scholarships for their children.

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