STL has announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended (QE) June 30, 2024. The company’s revenue decreased to Rs 12.18 billion as of June 30, 2024, as compared to Rs 15.22 billion during the reported quarter. The earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased to Rs 0.93 billion from Rs 2.35 billion for the reported period.
Loss before tax stood at Rs 0.6 billion as compared to profit before tax at Rs 0.63 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the net loss stood at Rs 0.48 billion, a decrease from net profit of Rs 0.52 billion reported for the corresponding quarter of 2023.
STL has extensively focused on its strategic priorities of customer centricity and cost leadership, thereby gaining traction in orders and sales across its optical business in optical fibre cable (OFC) and optical connectivity (OC) portfolios. Delivering purpose-engineered solutions that combine the two portfolios has come out as one of its core strengths. The optical connectivity attach rate to 23 per cent in the current quarter. Multiple deal wins contributed to a sequential increase in the revenues and EBITDA for this business.
The company has identified artificial intelligence (AI) data centres segment as a future growth area. With the growing demand for AI-led use cases, data centre capital expenditure (CapEx) will grow at 18 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) till 2028. These graphics processing unit (GPU)-heavy data centres will require 5 times more optical connections as compared to current levels, driven by factors like a 50 per cent increase in server density and higher bandwidth requirements migrating towards 100 GbE. These will also require more compact, high-density OFCs and connectors. STL is targeting its 25 per cent revenue from this growing segment in the medium term.
Furthermore, in its global services business, STL achieved a key milestone in the demerger process, receiving approvals from its shareholders and secured and unsecured creditors. The business recently partnered with UK-based Connexin to enable fast and reliable broadband connectivity. STL’s newly incubated digital business has continued on the path to profitability, seeing momentum with 25 global customers.
Commenting on the announcement, Ankit Agarwal, managing director, STL, said, “We are strategically enhancing our offerings to prioritise customer centricity and provide integrated solutions within the telecom/AltNet segments. At the same time, we are gearing up to make a substantial impact in the emerging AI-driven data centre segment. Early signs of market recovery are encouraging, and we enter FY25 with optimism, and a clear strategic focus. We are confident in our future growth, with our strong research and development (R&D) capabilities playing a crucial role in driving value for our customers.”
