GP kept the growth momentum with 3.

5 crore customers
Year: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Grameenphones Third Quarter of 2011 at a glance:

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BDT 2,283 crore revenues, 18% year on year growth 14.2 lakh new subscriptions Net profit after taxes BDT 563 crores with 24.7% margin Quarterly earnings per share (EPS) was BDT 4.17 Investment of BDT 449 crores for network modernization

Grameenphone Ltd. (GP) reported BDT 2,283 crore revenues for the third quarter of 2011, a strong 18% and BDT 349 crore increase from the corresponding period of 2010. Compared to the high growth performance in the second quarter of 2011, GP recorded BDT 9.5 crore incremental revenues. The year on year revenue growth mainly came through contribution from subscription and traffic revenues fuelled by steady subscription growth and contributions from data, roaming and wholesale businesses. I am happy to inform our Honourable Shareholders that the company has been able to uplift the business growth momentum even in a daunting regulatory environment, said Tore Johnsen, CEO of GP. He also noted that GP, as a company, stayed put and did not lose focus on delivering the best telecommunication services towards the remotest corner of the country as well as creating maximum value for shareholders money. Towards the commitment of further expanding the rural horizon, GP has managed to add 32 thousand more retailers into its robust distribution network during the quarter taking the total retail outlets close to 300,000. Capitalizing on this reinforcement, 14 lakh new subscriptions were added, posting a growth of 23% from the same period of 2010. GPs subscription base now stands at 3.52 crores with approximately 44% market share. Net profit after taxes for the third quarter of 2011 was BDT 563 crores with 24.7% margin compared to BDT 291 crores with 15.0% margin of the third quarter of 2010. Higher profit for this period was mainly due to consistent revenue growth and improvement in relative performance in cost areas, which was partly offset by higher income tax expenses. EBITDA margin for the third quarter of 2011 was 57.8%, which also has increased by 5.9 percentage points compared to the third quarter of 2010. As a result, Earnings per share (EPS) for the third quarter of 2011 stood at BDT 4.17 compared to BDT 2.15 of the same period of 2010. For the first nine months of 2011, EPS was BDT 9.18 compared to BDT 5.73 for the same period of 2010. GP invested BDT 449 crores during the third quarter of 2011 for network modernization, capacity and quality enhancement. With this, GPs cumulative investment since inception now stands at BDT 16,797 crores. Meanwhile, GP, the largest taxpayer of the country, paid BDT 1,308 crores to the national exchequer during the third quarter of 2011 in the form of taxes, VAT and duties, which sums up the accumulated contribution to the national exchequer to BDT 22,153 crores since its inception. Grameenphone has submitted its application for renewal of 2G license in the prescribed form along with necessary documents on 10 October 2011. The submission was done following the final regulatory and licensing guidelines of cellular mobile phone operator license published by Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on 11 September 2011.

Grameenphone has received a claim of BDT 30.34 billion from Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) referring to findings of the audit that the regulator carried out during the last few months starting from April 2011. Grameenphone has, during and after the audit, through discussion and formal letters, contended and clarified to BTRC and the auditor that the acceptable audit norms and practices have not been followed during and after the audit and the claims made remains unfounded, unsubstantiated and without merit. Telenor share Grameenphones view that the claims are unsubstantiated and expects that the licence renewal process will run unaffected by this dispute.

Strong business performance driven by customer and revenue growth

Year: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006
Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Grameenphone Ltd. (GP) reported BDT 4,340 crore revenues for the first half of 2011, a solid 21% increase from the first half of 2010. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2011 was BDT 2,273 crores, up by 21% from the same period of 2010. The growth in revenue was mainly in voice revenues due to subscription growth and revenues from sale of GP branded handsets. It is our pleasure to share with our shareholders that GP has delivered a strong business performance for the first half of the year backed by customer and revenue growth, said Tore Johnsen, CEO, Grameenphone Ltd. He added, GP continued to be the preferred telecom service provider of the country with its continued focus on ensuring better customer experience. GP has reinforced its retail channel and distribution infrastructure with more than 264,000 point of sales to reach in the deep rural areas. With 39 lakh new customers during the first six months, GPs subscription base stands at 3 crore and 38 lakhs with 44.3% market share at the end of second quarter. Net profit after taxes for the first half of 2011 was BDT 677 crores with 15.6% margin compared to BDT 483 crores with 13.5% margin of the first half of 2010. Higher profit for this period was mainly due to remarkable growth in revenues, partly offset by BDT 375 crores in subsidy related to SIM tax, BDT 57 crore losses on currency devaluation and higher income tax expenses. EBITDA margin for the first half of 2011 was 50.6%, which also has increased by 2.0 percentage points compared to the first half of 2010. Earnings per share (EPS) for the first half of 2011 stood at BDT 5.01 compared to BDT 3.58 of the same period of 2010. For the second quarter of 2011, EPS was BDT 2.89 compared to BDT 1.24 for the second quarter of 2010. In the National Budget for 2011-12, the Govt has reduced SIM tax to BDT 605.52 from BDT 800. This reduction was long awaited and we appreciate governments considerate decision that will help accelerating growth in telecommunication towards digitization of the country, said Tore Johnsen. GP invested BDT 551 crores during the first six months of 2011 for network modernization and efficiency enhancement. With this, GPs cumulative investment since inception now stands at BDT 16,348 crores. Meanwhile, GP, the largest taxpayer of the country, contributed BDT 2,344 crores to the national exchequer during the first half of 2011, which sums up the accumulated contribution to the national exchequer to BDT 20,846 crores since its inception. On account of corporate tax, GP paid BDT 618 crores during the first half of 2011, which was BDT 150 crore higher compared to the same period of last year. The renewal of license and spectrum of GP along with three other mobile operators is due on 11 November 2011. Tore commented We hope that industry friendly amendments will be made in the final license renewal guideline to ensure level playing field for all the operators. He added, side by side, a stable and long term telecom roadmap is needed to stimulate telecommunication growth, which will encourage mobile operators to make further investments in new services and technologies in the coming days. The Board of Directors has declared interim dividend in cash at the rate of 140% of the paid up capital (BDT 14 per share of BDT 10 each) for the year 2011 out of the provisional net profit of the company for the half year ended at 30 June 2011 and retained earnings up to 31 December 2010. The Shareholders as of the record date of 28th July 2011 will be entitled for this dividend, which will be distributed within the timeframe stipulated by the regulators.