GP’s net profit rises by 8% in Q2 of 2022

The largest market cap company on the country’s prime bourse, Grameenphone Limited’s net profit rose by 8.25 per cent in the second quarter (April to June) of 2022 compared to the same period of the last year. 

Besides, the largest mobile phone operator’s net profit declined by 0.61 per cent in the half year (Jan-Jun ‘22) compared to the same period of 2021.  

At the board meeting held on Sunday, the board of directors of the listed multinational company recommended an interim dividend of Tk12.5 per share against each share having a face value of Tk10.

CEO of Grameenphone Yasir Azman said in a statement, “The second quarter of 2022 was a challenging period for Bangladesh, as the northern regions of the country witnessed the devastating floods which severely affected the livelihoods of millions of people”.

“The impact from the pandemic remained steady during the quarter with a low number of Covid-19 cases, leading to continued economic recovery,” he said.

GP’s earnings per share (EPS) for the second quarter (Apr-Jun’22) stood at Tk6.82 which was Tk6.30 in the same quarter last year.

During the second quarter, the company’s profit after tax stood at Tk 920.64 crore, which was Tk 850.52 crore in the same period of the last year.

In the first six months of 2022, its EPS was Tk 12.82 against Tk 12.89 for January-June 2021.

GP reported total revenues of Tk 7,421.8 crore for the first six months of 2022, registering a growth of 5.2 per cent from the same period last year.

According to the official disclosure on the Dhaka Stock Exchange website, GP’s board of directors has recommended an interim cash dividend for the year 2022 at the rate of 125 per cent of the paid up capital of the company, which represents 97.5 per cent of the profit after tax for the six months ending on June 30, 2022, out of the audited net profits of the company for the six months ending on June 30, 2022.

Its record date is set for August 10 this year.

“In the first half, subscription and traffic revenues grew by 5.6 per cent from last year.  The data segment continued as a key driver behind our performance, with a 5.7 per cent growth in data users and 52.9 per cent growth in data usage. Contribution from bundles grew by ~100 per cent from last year.” said Jens Becker, CFO of Grameenphone.

During the second quarter of 2022, GP invested Tk 560.2 crore for network coverage and expansion. At the end of the quarter, Grameenphone’s total number of sites stood at 19,439.

The company has paid Tk 5,430 crore equaling 73.1 per cent of its total revenues to the national exchequer in the form of taxes, VAT, duties, fees, 4G license and spectrum assignment during the first half of 2022.  

On June 30, Grameenphone’s net asset value per share stood at Tk 37.25.

On Monday, its shares on the Dhaka Stock Exchange closed 0.10 percent lower at Tk289.5.

GP was listed on the DSE in 2009. The company’s paid-up capital is Tk 1,350 crore. Its market cap stood at Tk 39,091 crore on Dhaka bourse.

Earlier, on June 29 this year, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission issued an order blocking GP from selling new connections, citing the “poor quality” of the operator’s services.