55.4% of Robi subscribers 4G users

Robi-Axiata Ltd, the second-largest telecom operator in Bangladesh, made a profit of Tk 42.03 crore in the first quarter (January –March) of the current financial year.

The telecom operator’s revenue shot up by 4.1 per cent during the period to reach Tk 2,347.7 crore, while compared to the same quarter last year, it grew by 16.3 per cent.

Due to forex loss and high taxation, especially, 2 per cent minimum tax, Robi’s leadership position as a digital company was not fully reflected in its profit after tax (PAT) for Q1’23, Robi said in a press statement.

In the meantime, Robi’s credential as a digital company got a major boost as the company clocked up the highest single app user base in the industry- 1,47,50,000 at the end of the first quarter.

Digital recharge contributed 41.6 per cent of the company’s total recharge in the first three months.

Besides, 58 per cent of its subscribers were using smartphones whereas the industry average is only around 50 per cent. In addition, 45 per cent of smartphone users were using the company’s self-care app, My Robi and My Airtel.

According to the press statement, with 55.4 per cent of its total subscribers being 4G users, Robi continued to maintain leadership in 4G market. This is the highest proportion of 4G users among all the operators in the industry. Robi ensured 98.4 per cent population coverage of its 4G network with 15,844 4G sites.

In terms of data users, around 76 per cent of Robi’s total subscribers were internet subscribers in Q1’23 (Highest percentage of data users in the industry), and 73.1 per cent of data users were 4G users. Robi data subscribers consumed 6.23GB data every month on an average in Q1. Compared to the same quarter last year, data usage per subscriber, per month, increased by 34.8 per cent.

Voice revenue increased by 5.2 per cent compared to last quarter and by 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Data revenue grew by 3.4 per cent compared to last quarter, while the same increased by 17.5% compared to same quarter last year.

Having added 12 lakhs subscribers, Robi’s subscriber base reached 5.56 crore, representing 30.2 per cent of the subscriber market share at the end of Q1.

Data subscriber base grew by 2.5 per cent compared to last quarter to reach 4.21 crore. Compared to the same quarter last year, data subscriber base grew by 6.1 per cent.

Robi’s 4G subscriber base reached 3.8 crore by the end of March, 6.6 per cent and 24 per cent jump compared to last quarter and the same quarter last year, respectively.

Meanwhile, EBITDA de-grew slightly by 1.4% compared to the last quarter to reach Tk 1,051.6 crore with 44.8 per cent margin.

Compared to the same quarter last year, EBITDA grew by 23.6 per cent. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) in Q1 was Tk 0.08.

Robi paid Tk 1,103.8 crore to the Government exchequer in Q1, which was 47 per cent of the total revenue for the quarter. The company made Tk 215.9 crore capex investment in the same quarter.

Robi’s CEO, Rajeev Sethi said, “We are very pleased to see that our digital journey is accelerating in every possible way. Highest self-care app user base, highest percentage of 4G user base, highest percentage of data user base is clearly indicating that Robi is way ahead when it comes to positioning itself as the leader for the digital future.”

He also said, “With a strong performance in Q1’23, we feel Robi is well poised for the remaining part of the year. Unfortunately, due to factors beyond our control, our PAT continued to struggle to fully reflect our robust performance.

“Due to 2 per cent minimum tax, our PAT more than halved in Q1’23; which meant, instead of being 89.2 crore, our PAT was Tk 42 crore. Besides, forex loss of Tk 76 crore also worked as a spoiler for our performance. We urge the tax authority to remove the 2 per cent minimum tax from the industry in the upcoming budget to ease the pressure for us.”