Bangladesh's telecom giant sees revenue up 6.1% in Q1

Bangladesh's biggest mobile phone operator Grameenphone (GP) reported Tuesday a 6.1-percent on-year increase in revenues for the fist quarter of this year. The company, which is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in Bangladesh, said the revenue was 24.9 billion taka for the July- March period. Compared with the last quarter of 2013, its growth was a healthy 2.6 percent, mainly driven by increased voice outgoing from acquisition, data revenue with momentum from 3G, SMS and campaign driven content services, the company said. Growth in both local and international interconnection minutes, wholesale and financial services also contributed to this top line. "GP managed performance revival during the quarter after the depressed Q4 of 2013 aided by resumption of economic activities and maintenance of solid traction in the market," Vivek Sood, chief executive officer of Grameenphone, told journalists in a press conference. "We expect to maintain this momentum and drive business further. " With its 48.68 million customers at the end of March, GP, 55.8 percent owned by Norwegian telecom company Telenor and 34.2 percent owned by local Grameen Telecom, is the largest telecom operator in Bangladesh and has a strong legacy of providing mobile services to all parts of the country. The company said its net profit after taxes for the quarter was 5.2 billion taka with 20.7 percent margin compared to 4.5 billion taka with 19.3 percent margin of the corresponding period of 2013. Revenue growth and efficiency in opex (operational expenditure) management despite adverse effect from higher income tax expenses contributed to the higher profit in Q1, it said. The company invested 2.8 billion taka for 3G rollout, 2G capacity increase and efficiency enhancement in the first quarter this year. With this, the company's cumulative investment since inception stands at 246 billion taka. GP was set up in March 1997 by 2006 Nobel peace prize winner Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 78 taka)