GP posts Tk 1,070 crore net profit in first quarter

Grameenphone secured Tk 1,070 crore in net profits in the first three months of the year with 25.8 percent year on year growth, shows its first-quarter financial statement today.

The earning per share of the country's largest listed company stood at Tk 7.92 for the period.

Grameenphone also reported Tk 3,620 crore in revenue for the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, registering 3.7 percent growth from the same period last year.

Of the total revenue, the operator earned Tk 850 crore from the data segment with 24.6 percent year on year growth, according to its report.

The operator faced several challenges from the telecom regulator, centering their audit claims of Tk 12,580 crore, and holding up of approvals, including network expansion and maintenance.

"We continued to face challenges in the first quarter of 2020 and the restrictions placed on us by our regulator by not issuing NOCs lasted until March, which impacted our planned investment in the country," said Yasir Azman, chief executive of the operator.

"Despite the challenges, our focus remained on market execution and maintaining our network leadership position. Our reinforced drive on 4G conversion led to 14.2 million 4G users at the end of the quarter," Azman added.

Even with the restrictions in the first quarter, Grameenphone invested Tk 40 crore for network coverage and added 197 new 4G sites to their network.

Currently, their active connections stand at 7.53 crore, 4.04 crore of which are using internet and 1.42 crore have 4G connections.