Islamabad: The group’s president and executive director of the group PTCL & UFONE, Hatem Bammerf, has sparked serious concerns about the long delay in agreeing to the proposed merger in PTCL-TELENOR Pakistan by the Competition Committee in Pakistan (CCP), and a warning that further mitigating the costs and financial arrangements associated with it will be delayed.
Speaking to the media after announcing the financial results of the PTCL group for the first quarter of 2025, Bamamah said: “We were surprised by the delay in treatment for one year,” adding that all the required documents available for the treatment have already been submitted to CCP. He emphasized that Etisalat, the parent company of PTCL, has implemented similar transactions in other countries without facing such delays.
“There are some timetables in the transaction agreement that can affect the merging of PTCL-Telenor,” Bammiref warned, which confirms the urgency of organizational approval. He also stated that the delay can disrupt a major loan agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, linked to the successful closure of the merger deal.
While PTCL is still optimistic about the growth capabilities of integration with Telenor, Bammiraraf said that the uncertainty caused by CCP infection is harmful. He added: “We are waiting for approval and surprised about the delay – it should not happen.”
The PTCL Q1 2025 financial report revealed 22 % growth in the group’s revenues, reaching 61.85 billion rupees. However, the group incurred a net loss of 3.97 billion rupees during this period. The three main commercial weapons – PTCL, UFONE and UBANK were distributed to financial performance. PTCL itself recorded a clear profit of 1.17 billion rupees for January – March 2025, while Ufone remained red despite increasing revenues by 21 %, which greatly contributed to the total loss of the group.
