1Q2016: A strong quarter with 9.5% revenue growth

Grameenphone Ltd. reported revenue of BDT 27.6 billion for the first quarter of 2016, a 9.5% growth from the same period last year. Subscription and traffic revenue (excluding interconnection) grew by 11.8% with growing contribution from data and VAS. Data revenue grew by 71.1% (YoY) while VAS grew by 20.5% (YoY). Voice revenue also grew by 4.8% (YoY) with healthy development of minutes of usage.

GP ended the quarter with 56.3 million subscribers, a 0.7% de-growth from December 2015. Initial inertia from orientation of the new biometric verification process reduced subscriber addition. However, yearly subscriber growth stood at 8.2% with SIM market share improvement to 43.0% at the end of March 2016. GP acquired a healthy 4.1 million internet users, taking the quarter end base to 19.9 million.

“We passed a good quarter with double digit subscription and traffic revenue growth. Our voice revenue is also growing and which is an encouraging sign that our competitive and simple offers are getting traction in the market”, said Rajeev Sethi, CEO of Grameenphone Ltd. He added, “During the quarter we added 4.1 million internet users and rolled out 1804 new 3G sites, taking the population coverage to 80%.”

Net profit after taxes for the quarter was BDT 5.6 billion with 20.4% margin compared to BDT 5.4 billion with 21.3% margin of the corresponding period of 2015. Efficiency in operating expenditure led to a healthy EBITDA (before other items) of BDT 15.3 billion with improved margin of 55.3%. Earnings per share (EPS) for the period stood at BDT 4.15.

“We have delivered four consecutive quarter of revenue growth, driven by strong commercial execution and continued investment on our 3G coverage expansion. Healthy revenue growth and efficient spending resulted in improved EBITDA margin. Earnings per share also improved despite higher depreciation and amortization”, said Dilip Pal, CFO of Grameenphone Ltd.

GP invested BDT 9.1 billion during the quarter for further rollout of 3G sites, 2G coverage, capacity enhancement for catering higher volume of data and voice. Meanwhile, GP, the largest contributor to exchequer paid BDT 14.2 billion, comprising 51.6% of total revenue to the national exchequer during the period in the form of taxes, VAT, duties and license fees.

Grameenphone conducted its 19th Annual General Meeting on 19 April 2016 maintaining a benchmark of compliance with all regulations. The shareholders approved the financial statements and 140% cash dividend (including 80% interim cash dividend) for the year 2015 among other agenda.