Grameenphone Limited reported an increased revenue of TK10,480 crore in 2015, up 2% from last year, but profit declined due to higher depreciation and amortisation.
The market leader cellphone operator witnessed a fall of Tk10 crore in its profit this year which was Tk1,980 core in 2014.
GP came up with the disclosure at a press conference held at a local hotel in the city yesterday.
Though the high-ups of the company didn’t make clear about its net profit loss, they just attributed a few reasons to the loss of profit.
“We managed to deliver profitable growth amidst the subdued top line performance for 2015. Our EBITDA grew by 2.8% in comparison with 2% revenue growth. Earnings were stable despite higher depreciation and amortisation as well as charging off one-time appeal payment related to SIM replacement tax dispute,” said Dilip Pal, CFO of Grameenphone Ltd.
He said data revenue growth was 64% in 2015 while voice revenue declined marginally.
Due to suspension of Facebook for 22 days last year, GP revenue loss was TK10 crore, said Rajeev Sethi, CEO of Grameenphone.
“GP continued with the performance momentum after the challenging start of the year. Data went on to be the primary growth driver while voice was under stress from competitive offers,” said Rajeev.
He added: “Going forward we have set out an ambition of growth and value creation by taking the position as our customers’ favourite partner in digital life.”
Net profit after taxes for the period of 2015 was Tk1,970 crore compared to Tk1,980 crore in 2014. Efficiency in operating expenditure led to a healthy EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) of Tk5,600 crore with 53.4% margin.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the year stood at Tk14.59, said Dilip Pal.
Subscription and traffic revenue (excluding inter-connection) grew by 2.4% along with 3.5% growth in device and other revenues. Data revenue growth of 66% and VAS growth of 31% are the main contributors during the year.
During the 4th quarter, subscription and traffic revenue grew by 5.2% compared to that of 2014.
GP acquired over 52 lakh new subscriptions, taking the subscription base to over 5 crore. This 10% subscription growth took the SIM market share to a stable one of 42.4%. Data subscribers grew by 45% to 1.57 crore and data volume almost grew by 3 times during the year.
GP invested Tk1,930 crore for further roll out its 3G sites, 2G coverage, capacity enhancement for catering higher volume of data and voice as well as enhancement of IT infrastructure for better product and service offerings. Meanwhile, GP, the largest contributor to exchequer, paid Tk51.1 billion, comprising 48.8% of the total revenue to the national exchequer during the year in the form of tax, VAT, duties and licence fees.
The Board of Directors of Grameenphone recommended final dividend for the year 2015 in cash at the rate of 60% of the paid-up capital (i.e. Tk6 per share of Tk10 each) based on the decision taken at the board meeting held on February 7, 2016.
With this, the total cash dividend stands at 140% of its paid-up capital which represents 96% of Profit After Tax for the year 2015 (including 80% interim cash dividend).
The shareholders as of the record date of February 29, 2016 will be entitled for this final dividend, which is subject to the shareholders’ approval at the 19th AGM to be held on April 19, 2016.
