Grameenphone, the country’s largest telecom operator, has declared its lowest dividend for shareholders for 2023 in thirteen years, despite the company’s net profit rising by 9.87 per cent to Tk 3,306 crore.
This publicly traded company declared a 125 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders for the year that ended on December 31. The dividend amount was 220 per cent in the previous year. The declaration came at a board meeting on Monday.
The multinational company’s net profit rose to Tk 3,306 crore last year, which was Tk 3,009 crore the year before, according to the financial statement. Its earnings per share (EPS) were Tk 24.49 in the last year, which was Tk 22.29 in the previous year [2022].
To approve the dividend and the financial statement, Grameenphone will conduct the annual general meeting (AGM) on May 2, and the record date is February 29 this year. It should be noted that the company had announced 120 per cent dividend back in 2010.
Its net asset value (NAV) per share stood at Tk 49.39 and net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) at Tk 44.88 for the year ending on December 2023, compared to Tk 43.22 and Tk 47.26 respectively, for the previous year.
For the first time ever, Grameenphone is not offering an interim cash dividend to its shareholders in the first half of 2023.
Insiders say, as a reason behind the move, the company is citing payments to Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU-Tax) related to tax dispute through ADR and payments to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) as per the written judgment of a case relating to VAT mechanism and spectrum assignment fee during 2G license renewal.
Since its listing with the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges in 2009, the mobile phone operator had been offering interim cash dividends for its shareholders.
Mega-cap multinational Grameenphone posted a 29.7 per cent higher profit in the June quarter of 2023 on a year-on-year basis, driven by strong market execution and a strategic focus on network investment.
The country’s largest telecommunications service provider logged Tk 1,193 crore in net profit in the April-June period of last year, up from Tk 920 crore reported in the same period one year ago.
Meanwhile, the listed multinational’s net profit rose by 14 per cent to Tk 1,973 crore in the first six months of 2023, compared year-on-year. The largest market-cap company reported revenues of Tk 15,040 crore in 2022.
Norway’s Telenor holds a 55.8 per cent stake in Grameenphone, while local firm Grameen Telecom owns 34.2 per cent stake in the company. The remaining 10 per cent shares are in the hands of institutional and general investors.
Listed on the Dhaka bourse in 2009, the company has a paid-up capital base of Tk 1,350 crore. GP shares stood at Tk 286.60 per share on the Dhaka bourse trading floor on Monday.
