Pakistan's PTCL net profit 5.3 bln rupees: Reuters

KARACHI, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd. (PTCA.KA) (PTCL) reported on Thursday a net profit of 5.3 billion rupees ($66.45 million) in the first half of the 2008/09 fiscal year (July-June).

This compared with a net loss of of 9.54 billion rupees in the first half of the 2007/08 fiscal year.

PTCL incurred a one-time restructing cost of 23.163 billion rupees in first half of the 2007/08 fiscal year because of a voluntary redundancy programme which resulted in it shedding 45 to 50 percent of its workforce.

The result was below a net profit forecast range of 6.86 billion rupees to 6.63 billion rupees estimated by four analysts surveyed by Reuters.

"The result was below expectations because PTCL's finance costs rose significantly," said Umer Pervez, an analyst at AKD Securities Ltd.

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