Grameenphone’s net profit rose 2.04 percent year-on-year to Tk 2,532 crore in the first nine months of the year aided by a surge in revenue growth both in data and voice segments, the operator said.
The net profit was, however, down 13.03 percent to Tk 727 crore in the third quarter, because of the adverse impact of an undisclosed amount of one-off payment made to the government by the top carrier.
Earnings per share were Tk 18.75 for January to September period, compared to Tk 18.38 year-on-year. It was Tk 5.38 in the third quarter against Tk 6.25 in the same period last year, according to data from the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE).
The carrier said it earned Tk 10,749 crore in revenue in the nine-month period, up 9.5 percent year-on-year.
“While voice revenue continues to grow, we witnessed a healthy growth in data revenue, along with growth in usage,” said Michael Patrick Foley, chief executive officer of GP, in a statement.
Data revenue surged more than 50 percent to Tk 1,763 crore in the third quarter.
GP’s subscriber base expanded by 6 percent to 7.57 crore at the end of the quarter, as it acquired four lakh new subscribers and nine lakh internet users.
Currently, 53.7 percent of the company’s total subscribers use internet services. “We continued to deliver a solid business performance in the third quarter despite a very challenging regulatory environment,” Foley said.
The operator has been affected by the suspension of issuance of no objection certificates (NOCs) by the telecom regulator because of a fallout from the ongoing row they have long been embroiled in over an audit claim.
The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission has repeatedly demanded Tk 12,479 crore from GP as per findings of the audit into the operator’s book in 2016 that covered the period from its inception to December 2014.
GP has called the audit disputed and has not paid anything, leading the regulator to suspend issuing the NOCs on July 22. The NOCs are needed to roll out new package or service or import network equipment.
In the third quarter, the mobile phone operator invested Tk 218 crore, down 53 percent year-on-year.
“We invested less than what we had planned for, as a result of the NOC suspension,” said the operator in the statement.
Jens Becker, chief financial officer of the operator, said it reported solid growth with strong margins in the third quarter.
“We will continue to focus on acquiring quality subscribers and invest in building a strong network and distribution ecosystem in order to enable connectivity to all the people of Bangladesh.”
The largest company on the DSE by market capitalisation, GP’s shares were down 1.32 percent to close at Tk 314.50 yesterday.
GP’s network covered 99.5 percent of the population and 69 percent of the population are under its 4G network.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/gps-profit-rises-amid-challenges-1817086