BSNL reports operating profit of Rs 672 cr for FY15

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) on Tuesday reported operating profit of Rs 672 crore for the financial year 2015 as administrative costs came down sharply and revenues went up in the turnaround strategy for the loss-making company.

The company had posted an operating loss of Rs 691 crore in the last fiscal. Chairman and managing director (CMD) Anupam Shrivastava said that income from services increased by 4.16 per cent to Rs 27,242 crore in 2014-15, which is highest in the last five years. Income from services stood at Rs 26,153 crore in 2013-14.

"BSNL had bad results for the last few years, but in year 2014-15, it has been able to reverse the trend. Also, it is a known fact that most of the telecom majors have heavy debt burdens but BSNL is relatively better off with a low debt-equity ratio," he added. Shrivastava pointed out that the debt-equity ratio of BSNL is around 0.13 per cent, which is lowest in the industry. Srivastava also said that BSNL will invest Rs 7,700 crore this fiscal to expand its network.

The company also plans to launch 4G LTE services on 2m600 MHz band in a couple of cities by the end of March. Shrivastava said in 2006, BSNL was the number one operator in mobile and landline services as it was able to expand its network but during 2006-2012, it was not able to procure equipment, which led to its downfall. He added that these days, data is growing rapidly and they are investing heavily for data. "BSNL is focussing on data. Currently, 10 per cent of the revenue is coming from mobile data," he said.

The CMD further said BSNL has started to monetise its towers by entering into agreements with other operators and there is 42-per cent increase in tower business. A tower subsidiary will be created as the Cabinet has already cleared the proposal, he said.