ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) will provide a loan of Rs6.0 billion to its mobile subsidiary, Ufone, to meet financing for the ongoing and upcoming operations, it is learnt on Monday.
The loan will be provided to Ufone for a period of five years with an interest rate of three months KIBOR plus 1.80 per cent, repayable after a grace period of two years in six equal quarterly installments, reveals the minutes of the 148th board meeting of the PTCL made available to The News.
The board also approved release of $2.2 million for Etisalat Academy. Out of this, $2.07 million (equivalent to Rs175.5 million) is payable in the current year.
At the meeting, the chief financial officer presented the half-yearly accounts before the board and informed that the group revenue for the period under review stood at Rs49.4 billion, which is 6 per cent higher as compared to the corresponding period last year.
The company’s revenues witnessed a decline of 4 per cent during the period under review as compared to last year. The meeting also approved second quarter accounts for the period ended on December 31, 2009.
It was recommended that the company should approach the government for payment of the outstanding VSS amount, which is due as part of the VSS cost-sharing arrangement between PTCL and the government.
The board also advised the management to reconcile accounts with Defcom by the end of the current financial year and settle the long outstanding balances with the suppliers.
The senior executive vice president (Commercial) presented various initiatives taken during the half-year to improve the sales of different products on the occasion.
The board was also briefed about the sales of V-fone, EVO, Multimedia and Broadband, PSTN and VAS along with the revenues realised on these sales.
The initiatives taken by the management for improvement in the corporate services, international business, carrier services and wholesale and customer care were also shared with the board.
Regarding discrepancy between the contribution towards Research & Development Fund payable by the fixed line operators and the mobile operators, the chairman advised the management to continue to pursue its valid claims with the regulator and further advised to exhaust the opportunities of out of court settlements prior to initiating any legal proceedings even though the companyís legal position appeared to be strong.
The chief financial officer said that Rs9.26 billion had been consumed during the year on various projects and Rs5 billion had been consumed until January 2010.
A senior executive vice president (HR) gave a detailed presentation on various initiatives taken by the management, including the exchange revamp and training sessions carried out for development of the employees.
The initiatives taken by the HR Department pertaining to training and development of the workforce were appreciated, however, it was advised that efforts should be made to reach larger segments of the employees, especially the junior cadre employees.
Source The News
