LAHORE: The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) has maintained the long-term and short-term entity ratings of Worldcall Telecom Limited (WTL) at “A-” (Single A minus) and “A2” (A two) respectively on Tuesday. PACRA has also maintained the ratings of the secured TFC issues of Rs 350 million and Rs 4,000 million at “A” (Single A). These ratings denote a low expectation of credit risk while the capacity for timely payment of financial commitments is considered strong. The ratings reflect WTL’s association with Oman Telecommunications (OT) – a state owned telecom operator in Oman. The ratings recognise strengthening governance structure of WTL emanating from strong oversight of its board and improving internal control framework. However, the company’s business profile has weakened owing to continuous losses, which in turn has highlighted the financial risk. The management, cognizant of the situation, is making efforts to strengthen business and financial profile of WTL. However, timely materialisation of its efforts is yet to be seen. The company’s ability to achieve sustainable core profitability in a timely manner, while upgrading its technology infrastructure to withstand its position in fast changing sector dynamics are critical for the ratings. staff report