Home ›› 17 Mar 2022 ›› Stock
Robi Axiata, the country’s second-largest mobile operator, on Tuesday declared a 2 per cent final cash dividend for its shareholders for the year 2021, which raised the year’s total cash dividend to 5 per cent.
The listed multinational telecom company had earlier declared 3 per cent interim cash dividend to its shareholders for the year.
However, Robi once again sought a tax break from the government it was promised for getting listed on the bourse and said its business would have been better if the demand was met.
Robi bagged a net profit of Tk 180 crore in 2021, up by 16.1 per cent from the previous year. Its earnings per share (EPS) stood at Tk 0.34, which was Tk 0.33 in 2020.
M Riyaaz Rasheed, the acting chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO) of Robi, said, “We are happy to have turned a decent profit but still deeply worried about the severe damage caused by the 2 per cent minimum turnover tax.
“Had we not been subjected to this unjustified tax, our profit could have been Tk 343 crore, instead of Tk 180 crore”. However, he expressed satisfaction over their business strategy and current growth rate.
“Robi made the highest revenue growth for the third consecutive year in 2021. With consolidation of 4G leadership position, we are on track with our digital transformation journey powered by innovation,” said Riyaaz.
According to its financial statement, the subscriber base of Robi grew 5.4 per cent to reach 5.37 crore at the end of 2021, representing 29.7 per cent of the subscriber market share.
On the other hand, its data subscriber base grew 12.3 per cent in 2021 to reach 3.96 crore.
Besides, the 4G subscriber base grew by 43.8 per cent in 2021 to reach 2.38 crore, compared to 2020.
Its revenue rose 7.6 per cent to Tk 8,142 crore in 2021. The figure stands at Tk 2,046 crore when it comes to the fourth quarter in 2021.
Its net asset value (NAV) per share was Tk 12.64 and net operating cash flow per share (NOCFPS) Tk 6.22 in 2021.
Robi’s contribution to the government exchequer reached Tk 4,575 crore in 2021, including Tk 1,205 crore in Q4’21. It contributed 58.9 per cent of its revenue in Q4’21 and 56.2 per cent of its revenue in 2021 to the exchequer.
Each share of the multinational company closed at Tk 34.90 on Wednesday at the Dhaka bourse.
Robi made its debut on the Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchanges on December 24, 2020.
The company raised Tk 387.7 crore from the general investors, including eligible institutional investors through, its initial public offering (IPO) shares.
Meanwhile, Grameenphone, the main market competitor of Robi, reported a 8.2 per cent decline in net profit in 2021, according to reports.
The company in a press release in January said that the net profit declined last year due to favourable one-offs adjustments in its finance costs and tax expenses.
Grameenphone recommended a total of 250 per cent cash dividend including 125 per cent interim for 2021.
