Grameenphone can’t give up raking in profits
Grameenphone's net profits soared 25.8 per cent year-on-year to Tk 1,070 crore in the primary quarter of the entire year driven by data income and cost-efficient programmes in spite of operating an extremely challenging environment.
The carrier's profit percentage was 29.6 % in January to March, the highest in recent times, based on the company's quarterly financial statement, which was published yesterday.
Earnings per show of the country's largest-listed company stood in Tk 7.92, up from Tk 6.92 in the same quarter a good year earlier.
Grameenphone reported Tk 3,620 crore in earnings, registering 3.7 % year-on-year growth. It earned Tk 850 crore from the info segment, which posted 24.6 per cent growth, based on the report.
A huge 4G conversion occurred in the quarter pushing up info revenue growth, said a organization official. In the quarter, 23 lakh internet surfers who were utilizing 3G service changed into 4G.
The operator though continued to face challenges in the quarter, GP said.
The challenge relates to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission's audit claim of Tk 12,580 crore.
"The restrictions placed on us by our regulator by certainly not issuing NOCs (approvals) lasted until March, which impacted our planned investment in the united states," said Yasir Azman, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, in a assertion.
Additionally, the business faced scarcity of numbers right from the start of the quarter that negatively impacted the subscriber base, he said.
"Regardless of the challenges, our concentrate remained on industry execution and maintaining our network leadership," explained Azman, adding that the operator's drive on 4G conversion resulted in 1.42 crore 4G users by the end of the quarter.
The operator faced several challenges from the BTRC, centring the audit claims and its refusal to provide approvals, even for network expansion and maintenance.
Despite the restrictions, the top rated operator invested Tk 40 crore for network insurance coverage and added 197 new 4G sites to its network.
"Grameenphone is a good well-performing company, thus its great performance was expected," said Ershad Hossain, managing director of City Bank Capital.
As the novel coronavirus is spreading, the application of telecom service can be rising.
As a final result, the company will perform better in the coming days, he said, adding that had there been no audit-related disputes with the federal government, its share rates could possibly be Tk 500.
"GP's competitors remain far behind."
The business's share was traded at Tk 238 on March 25, the previous trading day prior to the country was located on lockdown. The marketplace hasn't opened since.
"Great performance of a stock is a great sign for the marketplace and its bigger profits will positively impact the market," Hossain added.
The profit expansion of the company is impressive despite losing about 6 lakh subscribers during the quarter because of the government's restrictions on the issuance of new connections, said Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments.
The company witnessed unfavorable growth in voice earnings but were able to grow data revenue and had and improvement in operating efficiency, which contributed to underneath line remarkably.
The business's income is yet to have a hit from the payment of Tk 1,000 crore to the government against the audit claim as per court order, he said.
However, the challenges stick to whether it'll be able to enter the government's good literature and settle unresolved courtroom cases quickly.
The telecom company has the potential to grow faster nonetheless it must pay huge attention to its dispute with the government rather than to its competitors, said a stockbroker preferring anonymity.
The federal government should emphasise on ensuring that the operator provides better services at competitive rates, he added.
Grameenphone's total number of dynamic connections stands at 7.53 crore, 4.04 crore of which are using the web.
Its users consume 2,225 megabytes of info every month on the average, up from 1,418 MB this past year.
