Grameenphone has earned revenue of Tk. 15,040.35 crore in the financial year 2022. Compared to the same period last year, the revenue growth rate was 5.1 percent. In the second half of the year, 5 percent fewer subscribers were able to connect to the Grameenphone network than in the previous year due to the regulator’s ban on SIM sales. All together, Grameenphone’s subscriber base stood at 7.91 crore at the end of the year. 55 percent or 4.36 crore of Grameenphone’s total subscribers are using the internet, a decrease of 2.2 percent compared to the end of 2021.
The top mobile operator of the country conveyed this information by releasing financial details on Tuesday.
Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman said, “Despite external headwinds in the fourth quarter of 2022, Grameenphone continued to improve its performance and ended the year with consistent growth. Various initiatives like our increasing investment in the network, use of new spectrum, achieving the milestone of increasing the total number of sites to 20 thousand and adding 19.6 thousand 4G sites to the network have mainly played a role in our consistent growth every year. On June 29, 2022, the telecom sector regulator banned us from selling SIM cards, which negatively impacted our subscriber growth in the second half of the year. Despite ending the year with fewer customers, data usage was 38% higher than last year as a result of our continued commitment to improving the customer experience. 8 percent growth and 23.6 percent increase in 4G data users at the end of 2022 and the total number of 4G users at the end of the year stood at 3.42 crore. As a result of a series of constructive discussions, the regulator later lifted the ban on SIM sales in 2023, i.e. on January 2 this year.”
Yasir Azman said, “Apart from strengthening our business base, Grameenphone has been at the forefront of innovation and customer-centric solutions through various partnerships, along with state-of-the-art mobile technology and capabilities. We have strategic partnerships with Google and Facebook and are using various solutions, which are contributing to seamless and convenient service to our customers. Through partnership with bKash, we brought hassle-free automatic payment feature facility. These integrated efforts have increased our engagement with customers across digital channels. Through our partnership with a2i, we look forward to expanding our services to our customers and bringing in a variety of solutions. Besides, we want to play an important role in digitization and economic growth of the country.”
Grameenphone Limited’s CFO Jens Becker said, “Grameenphone’s financial performance in 2022 has been sustained due to revenue and EBITDA growth. For the full year revenue grew by 5.1 percent and revenue stood at BDT 15,040.35 crore. On the other hand, subscription and traffic revenue increased by 5.5 percent. Growth in the data and bundle segments continues due to investments in networks and spectrum usage. As a result, it has been possible to ensure seven consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth in revenue despite lower subscription-base due to the ban on SIM sales.”
Jens Becker said, “Grameenphone has achieved consistent EBITDA growth due to revenue growth and operational initiatives, despite rising economic pressures in the logistics sector and inflation-related cost increases. EBITDA growth was 4.8 percent with a margin of 62.4 percent for the full year. Net profit after tax stood at Tk. 3,009.16 crore in 2022 with a margin of 20 percent. Negative impact on net profit in the fourth quarter of 2022 due to foreign transactions and negative verdict in earlier cases,”
In the board meeting held on January 30, 2023, Grameenphone’s board of directors recommended a final dividend of Tk. 9.5 per share for the year 2022. As a result, total financial dividend stood at 220 percent of paid-up capital, which is 98.72 percent of 2022 profit after tax (including 125 percent imputed cash dividend). Shareholders remaining as shareholders till the record date 26 February 2023 will receive this dividend, subject to shareholder approval at the formal 26th Annual General Meeting on 02 May 2023.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, Grameenphone Limited invested Tk. 500.4 crore in network coverage and expansion. At the end of the quarter, Gramiphone’s total number of network sites stood at 20,080. In 2022, the company contributed Tk. 10,427 crore to the government exchequer in taxes, VAT, duties, fees, forge licenses and spectrum allocations, which is 69.3 percent of its total revenue.