Engro Corp announces a PKR 7.5 billion investment in telecom infrastructure sector

Engro Corporation, Pakistan’s leading industrial group famous for producing fertilizers and chemicals, has announced a 7.5 billion rupees investment in the telecommunications infrastructure sector of the country.

Engro Corporation has recently announced its first quarter’s financial results which ended on March 31st, 2019, at a meeting held at the Engro Leadership Academy. Recording a profitable quarter, total revenue of the company grew by 21% in comparison to the same period a year earlier, driven by higher Urea sales in the Fertilizer business. The company has also posted a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs. 3,832 million as compared to the last year, where it was PKR 3,146 million, translating into an EPS (Earnings Per Share) of PKR 7.32 per share.

As part of its long-term strategy after sighting a significant growth in revenue, Engro Corporation has streamlined its businesses in four verticals namely Food & Agriculture, Energy & Related Infrastructure, Petrochemicals, and Telecommunications Infrastructure to focus on creating value and helping Pakistan resolve these challenges.

Engro group’s investment in telecom infrastructure sector has been announced at a time when the telecom sector has been squeezed with the acquisition of Warid by Jazz and resulted in the convergence of telecom industry into four major companies i.e. Jazz, Ufone, Telenor, and Zong. Meanwhile, the growth rate of Pakistan’s telecom sector has been impressive as the increased number of 3G and 4G/LTE users contributed over $ 4.42 billion to the national exchequer from period 2014 to 2017.

Announcing the hefty investment in telecom vertical, Ghias Khan, President & CEO Engro Corporation stated;

“With a core purpose to solve the pressing issues of our time, the growth and prosperity of Engro is intertwined with the growth of Pakistan. Investments in energy, telecommunications infrastructure, petrochemicals, and food & agriculture can accelerate change, help towards increasing exports, the substitution of imports, industrialization in the country, job creation and hence build a stronger Pakistan. Engro Corporation will continue to explore investment opportunities across these four identified verticals with a focus to improve the lives of our stakeholders and communities in which we live and work with a culture founded on truth, trust and a relentless pursuit of excellence.”

Previously, Engro group had set up Enfrashare (Pvt) Ltd. to accelerate the development of the country’s connectivity infrastructure by providing an opportunity for people to be part of the new digital Pakistan. To further boost productivity, the Directors have approved an investment of PKR 7.5 billion into this project. As an initial investment, Enfrashare will engage in the acquisition & construction of shared telecom towers and will also provide telecommunication infrastructure & related services, including state of the art network monitoring solutions.