Nepal Telecom (NTC) has reported a sharp decline in its financial performance for the last fiscal year, with net profit plunging by 57.21%. According to the company’s unaudited report, profit fell to Rs 2.66 billion in FY 2024/25, down from Rs 6.23 billion in the previous year. Consequently, the company’s earnings per share (EPS) dropped to Rs 14.82.
The financial statement for the fourth quarter shows that operating income remained relatively stable at Rs 34.53 billion, a marginal dip of 0.08% compared to Rs 34.56 billion in FY 2023/24. However, total revenue fell sharply to Rs 38.73 billion, marking an 8.03% decline from the previous year’s Rs 42.11 billion.
NTC attributed the steep decline in revenue and profits to several factors:
- Reduced earnings from international calls.
- Growing popularity of OTT platforms such as WhatsApp and Viber.
- Declining demand for mobile data due to competing ISPs’ WiFi services.
- High operational costs linked to expanding services in remote areas.
- Tariff policy changes and reduced interest earnings.
- Increased expenses for employee pension schemes.
- Impact of deferred taxation and pending tax-related litigations.
- Additional financial pressure from loan loss provisions on debt investments and assets.
Despite the overall decline, NTC maintained a steady stream of operating income, but rising costs and shrinking revenue sources significantly eroded profitability.
