The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Limited Chief Executive Officer, Paul Taylor, says that as part of its new strategy, the company will consider investing abroad.
Beginning next month, BTCL will float 49 percent of its shares and last Monday it hosted a grand assembly at the Gaborone International Convention Centre to sensitise members of the public about this opportunity. During the question-and-answer session, Taylor was asked whether BTCL has any plans of investing abroad. The response was that the board of directors and management have mulled over such possibility and that the decision to go down that route would be largely informed by how the company performs locally.
At this point in time, the company is doing very well which is the main reason it is now listing on the Botswana Stock Exchange.
“Our revenues have been impressive for the past years. Driven by our mobile network and revenue from data and private circuits, we surpassed the billion pula mark. In the financial year 2012/13, our revenues surged past the billion pula mark to stand at P1. 375 billion compared to P 1.187 billion recorded in the 2011/12 financial period,” Taylor told the GICC pitso.
The company’s profit before tax increased by 20 percent from P237 million recorded in 2011/12 to stand at P284m in 2012/13 with net profit margin growing to 21 percent from 20 percent in the previous year.
Taylor said that the advent of the Botswana Fibre Network will see BTCL’s financial shape change as the company adapts to the new market dispensation.
“That said, we are well-positioned to grow strongly into the future. Our strategy includes a vigorous defence of our existing business through creatively re-packaging and re-bundling services. We will also maintain a very close eye on our costs whilst growing the mobile and data areas of our business. Data ÔÇô it’s worth noting – is compensating well for declines in voice revenues. We also believe that with internet penetration in the country at about 10 percent, there is further potential for growth in data based revenues,” the BTCL CEO said.
The organisation’s plans are in line with what a future Umbrella for Democratic Change government says it will do should it assume official power. In its 2014 general election manifesto, the party says that it will restructure parastatal organisations “so they are managed more professionally and have mandate to invest internationally.”
