Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL, Indias international telecom carrier) has posted a 56 per cent increase in net profits on a 22.8 per cent increase in sales turnover for the first half of fiscal 1997-98. The net profits of the state-owned PSU increase from Rs 264.80 crore to Rs 415.30 crore in the six months ended September 30, 1997.
VSNL has reported a sales turnover of Rs 3,078.40 crore for the first half of fiscal 1997 as against Rs 2,505.10 crore in the corresponding period last year. The company managed to increase operating margins from 17.68 per cent to 20 per cent because of the overall increase in operating efficiencies and the impact of the revenue-sharing agreement with the DoT, according to a press release of the company.
VSNL signed a fresh revenue-sharing agreement with DoT under which it will receive a flat Rs 10 per minute for both incoming and outgoing calls in the country. Earlier, it used to receive some Rs 10 for an incoming call and Rs 4 for an outgoing call.
The increase in profits is reflected in a 32 per cent rise in VSNLs annualised earnings per share (EPS, which equals net profits divided by total number of outstanding shares). An annualised EPS of Rs 87.43 on an equity capital of Rs 95 crore (compared to Rs 63 on a Rs 92.2 crore equity last year) was announced after a board meeting of the company directors in Mumbai.
Commenting on the results, B K Syngal, VSNLs chairman and managing director said: This has been a very successful period for VSNL with strong volume, revenue and profit growth. We continue to focus on constantly impr-oving our operational efficiencies and upgrading our infrastructure to firmly establish our position as a leading international tele-communications service provider in the world.
On the physical side, VSNL recorded a 24 per cent year-on-year increase in volume of telephone traffic from 645 million to 801 million paid minutes in the six months ended September 30, 1997.
It recorded 1.38 billion minutes of traffic in all of 1996-97. The carrier added 325 international telephone circuits in the first half of this fiscal taking it from 14,184 to 14,509.
