Sharp decline in international settlement as well as domestic tariffs have resulted in a 44.5 per cent fall in the net profit of Videsh Sanchar Nigam.
Net profit for the year ended March 2003 was lower at Rs 780.1 crore (Rs 7.80 billion) compared with Rs 1,407.4 crore (Rs 14.07 billion) in the previous year. However, the company has declared 85 per cent dividend (Rs 8.50 dividend per share) for 2002-03.
Net sales were down 30.26 per cent at Rs 4,538 crore (Rs 45.38 billion) against Rs 6,508.1 crore (Rs 65.08 billlion) in 2001-02, while total income was also lower at Rs 4,812.5 crore (Rs 48.12 billion) compared with Rs 7,089 crore (Rs 70.89 billion).
VSNL has stated that it has, "Despite competition, maintained and grown its traffic volume an is certain that the future growth in volumes will offset the short-term impact on the industry."
S K Gupta, managing director of VSNL said, "The company is looking at cutting costs through optimum utilisation of bandwidth which constitutes a sizeable share of VSNL's operating expenses."
The company's total expenditure stood at Rs 3,397.8 crore (Rs 33.98 billion) compared with Rs 4,500 crore (Rs 45 billion) in the previous year.