Robi returns to profit

Robi Axiata Ltd, the second largest mobile phone operator in Bangladesh, made a Tk 24.4 crore profit in the second quarter of 2023.   

With this, the carrier recovered from a Tk 12.15 crore loss it suffered during the same period a year ago.

Thus, earnings per share were Tk 0.05 in April-June of 2023, rebounding from a Tk 0.02 per share loss a year ago, according to its financial statements.

The profit surged 140 percent year-on-year to Tk 66.38 crore in the first half of the year. It was Tk 27.67 crore in the identical half of 2022. So, the consolidated EPS rocketed to Tk 0.13 from Tk 0.05 a year prior.

"Given the macro-economic challenges, we are very happy with the overall performance of Robi," said Robi Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Sethi during a press conference at the operator's corporate office in Dhaka.

The revenue stood Tk 2,539.9 crore in the second quarter, Robi said in a press release.

"We are very proud to note that 39 percent of our revenue in the second quarter came from the data business, clearly demonstrating that our digital vision is producing concrete results. In fact, the data revenue was one of the key drivers in pushing up profitability for the quarter."

The company made capex investment of Tk 762.2 crore from April to June to further bolster its 4G network.

The telecom operator said earnings before income tax, depreciation, and amortisation stood at Tk 1,065.5 crore with a 42 percent margin.

"Unfortunately, the growth momentum, to a large extent, was undone by the hefty payment we had to make to the government exchequer," Sethi said.

Robi contributed Tk 1,684 crore to the government exchequer in the three-month period, which accounted for 66.3 percent of its revenue.

"Unless we address this bottleneck, we are always going to struggle to match up to our full potential as a leading digital service provider of the country," he said.

Robi added eight lakh subscribers in the second quarter, raising its subscriber base to 5.64 crore, representing 30 percent of the market share.

A total of 10 lakh data users were added to Robi network between April and June, which lifted its data user base to 4.31 crore. Some 76.5 percent of subscribers were data users at the end of the second quarter.

Having added 16 lakh 4G users, Robi's 4G user base expanded to 3.24 crore. Its 57 percent subscribers use 4G.

The company said it ensured 98.5 percent 4G population coverage with more than 16,000 sites across the country.

Shares of Robi closed at Tk 30 on the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday, unchanged from a day earlier.