NT's Q3 profit rose to Rs 10.42bn

KATHMANDU:

Nepal Telecom (NT) earned net profit of Rs 10.42 billion by the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year.

The profit of the state-owned telecom company rose by 21 per cent, when compared to the profit of Rs 8.6 billion it had recorded in the same period of last fiscal year, 2013-14.

Even as there was significant rise in profit, NT witnessed rise of only 5.15 per cent in its income, according to the unaudited

financial statement of the company.

It recorded total earning of Rs 30.62 billion, including Rs 2.86 billion from sources other than telecom service operation. Other income includes interest on corporate bonds and debentures, pension fund and bank deposits.

In the same period of last fiscal year, the company had income of Rs 29.12 billion.

As per the financial report, the rise in profit this year is basically due to the decline in expenses such as licence and frequency fee.

Licence fee expense came down to Rs 48.55 million, against Rs 2.53 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Similarly, the report shows expenditure of Rs 649.28 million under frequency fee against Rs 693.86 million last fiscal.

There was 7.89 per cent decline in total expenses, to Rs 16.22 billion from Rs 17.61 billion in the same period of last fiscal year.

However, spending on operation and maintenance, staff salary, administration, royalty, contribution to Rural Telecommunication Development Fund and depreciation went up.

NT officials said that both income and profit this year are expected to be lower due to increased expenses in maintenance after the devastating earthquake of April 25 and free services provided to customers during the time of crisis.

NT had provided voice, text and data services worth Rs 1.46 billion for free to customers in GSM and CDMA network for 132 hours after the April 25 earthquake.

Source: THT