Mobile phone operator Robi has gained a impressive profit in the just concluded year 2013.
The country’s third-largest mobile phone operator earned a profit over Tk365 crore in 2013, said a Robi report released yesterday.
According to the report, Robi had earned only Tk91 crore in the year 2012.
The revenue of Robi in the last quarter, between the months of October and December, faced a setback due to the political unrest, the report said.
The telecom operator managed to sustain a 16% growth despite some adverse challenge. The revenue of the company increased by Tk4,500 crore in 2013, which was nearly Tk3,900 crore in 2012.
Addressing a press conference at a city hotel yesterday, Robi officials formally announced that they had already been able to expand its market share, by adding 43 lakh new customers in 2013.
The press conference was addressed, among others, by Robi Chief Market Officer Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Human Resource Officer Matiul Islam Nowshad and Executive Vice President Mahmudur Rahman.
The active Robi subscribers now stand at 2.54 crore, which is around 23.3% of the total subscribers.
The revenue in the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2013 amounted to Tk1,013 crore, which was Tk1,173 crore in the third quarter (July-September), officials told the press conference.
“Adverse external impact especially instability in the country’s political environment has triggered the negative growth during the Q4,” said Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Robi while announcing the financial statement of 2013.
He said, “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) dropped 38% from Tk470 crore in Q3 to Tk290 crore in Q4, primarily due to revenue fall, increased operational expenses, and 3G related costs.”
“Profit after Tax (PAT) was completely wiped out in the last quarter from Tk140 crore in Q3 to a negative PAT of Tk one crore inQ4 due to drop in EBITDA and a higher depreciation resulting from investments towards network expansion,” said Ahmed.
