Mobile phone operator Robi on Saturday reported that the company earned Tk17 crore in 2019, which was Tk214.7 crore the previous year — a 92% fall.
The financial report for 2019 was disclosed at a press meet at its head office in the capital on Saturday.
A Robi official, requesting anonymity, said strict regulatory regime and higher tax measures were the key reasons for slower profit growth.
The Malaysia-based operator made a profit of Tk284.3 crore in 2017, while after merger with Airtel in November 2016, the operator’s profit was Tk389.2 crore.
Robi made a net profit of Tk 400.4 crore in 2015.
The revenue of the company also witnessed a growth of 10% last year to Tk7,481 crore because of the increased data revenue growth of 28%.
On the whole, rising of the minimum tax rate from 0.75% to 2%, doubling of SIM tax to Tk200, raising of supplementary duty on smartphones from 10% to 25%, raising of supplementary duty on mobile usage from 5% to 10% had a major impact of the financial performance of the company, stated in a press handout.
“It was also wonderful for us to be recognized as the champion in both Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Maturity in 2019 among all Axiata operating companies across Asia. I can confidently say that Robi is very successfully shifting its gears as a company to lead the country in the era of fourth industrial revolution”, said Robi’s Chief Executive Officer Mahtab Uddin Ahmed.
Meanwhile, Robi is set to raise Tk523.80 crore from the country’s capital market through an initial public offering (IPO).
At its board meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Robi's parent company Axiata Group Berhad made the decision on Thursday, as reported by Bernama.
It plans to offload about 523,800,000 shares at Tk10 each on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges, Axiata announced in a filing with the Malaysian stock exchange on Friday.
The proceeds from the proposed listing will be used to fund Robi's capital expenditures, according to Axiata.
In total, Tk2,762 crore was paid to the government exchequer by Robi in 2019.
Since inception of the company in 1997, Robi has paid Tk26,621 crore to the state coffers.
