Robi’s revenue up 16.28% in Q1

Robi Axiata, the second-largest telecom operator in Bangladesh, showed that its revenue grew by 16.28 per cent year-on-year to Tk 2,347 crore in the first quarter (January-March) of 2023.

The publicly-traded company has also posted a 5.5 per cent year-on-year jump in its net profit to Tk 42 crore during the period.

In the January-March period, its earnings per share (EPS) were Tk0.08 which was the same in the previous year during the same time.

At the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), its shares have been traded on the floor price at Tk30 each since August last year.

The telecom operator reported a net asset value (NAV) of Tk 12.90 per share for the period on March 31, 2023. Its net asset value was Tk 12.72 per share till March 2022.

The company’s net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) reached Tk 1.83 on March 31, 2023.

The multinational’s consolidated net profit increased to Tk 183.3 crore in 2022 from Tk 180.3 crore in the previous year.

Despite slim growth, the company paid a 7 per cent cash dividend to its shareholders for 2022, the highest since its incorporation.

Robi Axiata is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and Bharti Airtel of India. Axiata holds a 68.7 per cent stake in the entity while Bharti owns the remnant 31.3 per cent.

The company commenced operations in 1997 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name ‘Aktel’. It was later rebranded as Robi in 2010.

Robi was the first operator to roll out 3.5G services in Bangladesh. It introduced 4.5G services across all 64 districts in 2018.

The company has a paid-up capital of Tk 5,237 crore while its authorised capital is Tk 6,000 crore.

Sponsors and directors own 90 per cent stake in the company while institutional investors hold 1.65 per cent, and general public 8.35 per cent as of March 31, 2023.