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Robi Axiata Limited, the second largest telecom operator, is going to bring some changes into its initial public offering (IPO) proceeds expenditure plan and extend the fund utilisation timeframe.
The publicly traded company’s board has already cleared way for the revision and now it will hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on January 24 for shareholders’ approval, Robi informed the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Thursday.
Robi collected a Tk 523 crore fund from the capital market last year by offloading 52.3 crore ordinary shares with a face value of Tk 10 each. It started share trading on December 24.
The company had initially planned to spend over Tk 515 crore of the fund in network expansion project and Tk 8 crore in IPO related expenses.
Out of the total proceeds, Robi has already utilised over Tk 438 crore in network expansion and Tk 7.5 crore in IPO expenses as of September 30. The spent amount is 85.23 per cent of the total IPO proceeds, as per data it filed with bourses.
According to the IPO prospectus, the telecom operator was supposed to utilise the proceeds within six months of obtaining IPO funds.
On August 16, Robi requested the stock market regulator for approval of amendment of IPO proceeds utilisation plan and to extend the timeframe until June 30 next year.
The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has recently allowed the company to revise its plan for the utilisation of IPO proceeds.
Each share of the company changed hands at Tk 38.90 at the Dhaka bourse on Thursday, up by 0.26 per cent from that of previous day. The price moved between Tk 5 and 77.10 throughout the last one year.
Robi earned a profit of Tk 86.5 crore in the third quarter (July-September) of the current year.
The company’s profit after tax (PAT) grew by 85.4 per cent compared to the last quarter (April-June) while its PAT rose by 122.3 per cent in Q3 compared to the same quarter last year.
The mobile phone operator started its journey in 1997 under the brand name of Aktel. It then changed its name to Axiata (Bangladesh) in 2009 and took the present name Robi Axiata in 2010.
