STL continues to strengthen customer partnerships and operating performance in H1 FY24

COLUMBIA, S.C. and LONDON and MUMBAI, India, Oct. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- STL (NSE: STLTECH), a leading Optical and Digital solutions company, today announced its financial results^* for the quarter ended 30^th September 2023. STL reported USD 181 Mn in revenues and a robust open order book of USD 1,276 Mn across its three business units - Optical Networking, Global Services, and Digital. Focusing on operational efficiencies and improved realisation, the company recorded a 13% YoY growth in EBITDA in the first half of FY24.

STL gained momentum in India and EMEA with its Optical Fibre Cable, Optical Connectivity, and Enterprise offerings, with nearly ~72% 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 ~20.8% for its Optical Networking Business, clocking 8% YoY growth in the first half of FY24. The launch of STL's South Carolina Plant in the US and its strategic and timely BEAD qualification have put the company in the driving seat for the upcoming network rollouts for federal and private projects in the US, starting calendar year 2024.

In this crucial quarter, 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 ~USD 45 Mn with a leading Indian service provider.
  
  
• Sustainability: In a prestigious milestone, the company has been rated as a top ESG performer with a rating upgrade to 'A' in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) 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. The company is slated to announce industry-leading optical innovations in the upcoming India Mobile Congress 2023.

STL's Global Services Business: reported a sequential QoQ revenue increase and continued its focus on a favourable project mix to drive improved margins going forward.

STL Digital: STL's newly incubated IT services business achieved ~25% revenue growth on a QoQ basis, signed strategic partnerships and recently launched a pioneering Generative AI solutioning fabric for modern enterprises.

Sharing insights on the market outlook and STL's growth prospects, 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."

Financial highlights (USD Mn)

*All financials are from continued operations

About STL - Sterlite Technologies Ltd:

STL is a leading global optical and digital solutions company providing advanced offerings to build 5G, Rural, FTTx, Enterprise, and Data Centre networks. Read more, Contact us, stl.tech | Twitter | LinkedIn| YouTube

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