STL has announced its financial results for the quarter ended (QE) September 30, 2023. The company reported Rs 14.94 billion in revenues and a robust open order book of Rs 105.16 billion across its three business units – optical networking, global services, and digital. Focusing on operational efficiencies and improved realisation, the company recorded a 13 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first half of FY24.

STL gained momentum in India and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) with its optical fibre cable, optical connectivity, and enterprise offerings, with nearly 72 per cent of its revenue coming from these markets. The company displayed resilient performance in the US amidst short-term demand softening. STL maintained industry-leading EBITDA margins of around 20.8 per cent for its optical networking business, clocking 8 per cent YoY growth in the first half of FY24. The launch of STL’s South Carolina Plant in the US and its strategic and timely Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program qualification have put the company in the driving seat for the upcoming network roll-outs for federal and private projects in the US, starting calendar year 2024. 

For its global services business, STL reported a sequential QoQ revenue increase and continued its focus on a favourable project mix to drive improved margins going forward. As for its digital business, STL’s newly incubated IT services business achieved around 25 per cent revenue growth on a QoQ basis, signed strategic partnerships and recently launched a pioneering generative artificial intelligence (AI) solutioning fabric for modern enterprises.

The company accelerated its focus on long-term success drivers of deep customer partnerships, sustainability and product innovation.

  • Deep customer partnerships: STL announced two long-term engagements in the US with Windstream and TruVista, and signed a partnership for building and maintaining data centres for a leading public sector entity in India. Further strengthening its reputation as the leading fiberisation partner, the company secured an order of Rs 3.7 billion with a leading Indian service provider.
  • Sustainability: In a prestigious milestone, the company has been rated as a top environmental, social and governance (ESG) performer with a rating upgrade to ‘A’ in the Morgan Stanley Capital International index along with an overall score of 92 percentile in the EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment score. 
  • Product innovation: Championing hi-tech R&D as an Indian company, STL announced its participation in the Advanced Optical Communications (AOC) Test Bed for advancements in 5G, 6G and enterprise technologies. 

Commenting on the results, Ankit Agarwal, managing director, STL said, “We are confident and excited about the robust medium to long-term growth in the optical fibre cable market. With our strategic focus on deep customer engagement, product innovation and sustainability we are well poised to capture long-term growth and drive towards our ambition of becoming one of the top three optical companies in the world.”