DHAKA: Robi Axiata Ltd. (Robi) invested Tk 560-crore for 2.5G/3.5G network expansion and it recorded 5.1 percent revenue growth in the second quarter.
The cell phone operator announced its financial results for the second quarter ended on June 30 in a press briefing in city on Thursday (August 25), said a press release.
Robi managing director and also CEO Supun Weerasinghe said, “We experienced stable mobile revenue during the second quarter of 2016. However, SIM biometric re-registration initiative negatively impacted the growth momentum of the business”.
He further said, “Nevertheless, we are continuing to invest towards expansion and modernization of 2.5G/3.5G network across the country to provide a superior experience to our subscribers”.
“During the first half of 2016 we continued to bring most innovative and affordable product offers in the market. Robi introduced Yonder music service aiming to provide a total music experience that combines exclusive content from famous local artists along with a comprehensive collection of international music”, he added.
Robi active subscriber base remains flat in 2nd quarter standing at 27.4 million due to slower net subscribers’ addition during biometric re-registration period. The revenue grew by 5.1 percent to Tk 12.4 billion amidst intense price competition.
The year started with a very challenging business conditions resulting from SIM biometric re-registration which slow down new activations, additional 1 percent surcharge and 2 percent supplementary duty on all mobile services and shifting of customer preference from voice to data impacted the growth momentum of the business.
Despite these challenging conditions, Robi was able to maintain its subscriber base of 27.4 million, representing 20.9 percent of industry subscriber market share.
During the period, while 1H 2016 total revenue contracted by 3.4 percent compared to the same period of last year, data revenue had registered encouraging growth of 25.0 percent.
Data revenue growth was propelled by significant investments in network coupled with innovative data offerings to drive 3.5G and 2.5G data usage.
Despite Robi achieved operating profit (EBITDA) margin of 32.9 percent in 1H 2016, margin is 4.1pp (percentage point) lower than the same period of previous year as a result of higher network operating expenses from continued network investments and intense price competition.
PAT (Profit after Tax) was impacted by higher depreciation resulting from network modernization and higher tax expense correspondingly with the recent Finance Act 2016. The normalized PAT excluding one-off accelerated depreciation of network modernization amounted to BDT 1.7 billion, 8.0 percent lower than same period.
In 2nd quaeter, the company contributed BDT 3.1 billion to the Government Exchequer representing 24.6 percent of company revenue.
Since inception in 1997, Robi has paid more than BDT 166.8 billion to the Government Exchequer while for the same period remitted BDT 2.9 billion dividends to its shareholders.
BDST: 1700 HRS, AUG 25, 2016
BD/RR
