Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is expecting stable revenues from its operations for 2016-17. The state-owned operator is expected its revenue to be flat Rs. 28,477 crores, despite a tough year of intense competition from private players, says a report from PTI.
BSNL Chairman and Managing Director Anupam Shrivastava said to the publication that "BSNL is in the midst of finalising its numbers for the financial year ended March 2017 based on Indian Accounting Standards (or Ind-AS) and also parallelly reconciling the corresponding figures for FY16."
The audited numbers and board approvals are expected to receive by the end of November or early December. "As of now, the full details have not come, but what we know is that revenue from operations is Rs 28,477 crore for FY17 and Rs 28,449 crore for FY16," Shrivastava told PTI.
He said that the"full year top line numbers were buoyed by the performance across segments like mobile, broadband and enterprise."
"Overall, the year FY17 was a tough year because of stiff competition. But while the revenue of most operators came under pressure, we have been able to sustain the same level with a slight increase," Shrivastava added.
Further, when asked if BSNL will be able to reduce its losses for the full fiscal 2016-17, the top officer responded that the figures are still being worked out. However, he was not confident on whether will BSNL show up positive EBITDA for FY17. For the unaware, EBITDA stands for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, which measures a company's operational performance.
BSNL reported losses for four years since 2013. The government-owned PSU reported a loss of Rs. 7,019 crore in 2013-14, and Rs. 8,234 crore in 2014-15. However, the company managed to halve the losses to Rs. 3,880 crore in 2015-16. And is now expecting the revenues to be at Rs. 28,477 crores for 2016-17.
While the company has been posting no profits over the years, the revenue has constantly been increasing since 2013-14. For example, BSNL posted a revenue of Rs. 26,153 crore in 2013-14, followed by a slight increase of Rs. 27,242 crore in 2014-15, and Rs. 28,449 in 2015-16.
BSNL's aggressive tariff plans are the primary reason for the company to expect a stable revenue in 2016-17. The company has been matching Reliance Jio in every aspect possible to gain subscribers and retain the market share.
