Robi Axiata’s profit jumps 140% in H1

Robi Axiata Limited – the country's second-largest mobile network operator – has reported a 140% jump year-on-year in its net profit during the first half of 2023.

According to its unaudited financial statement for the January-June period, the company revealed that its net profit was Tk66.38 crore, which was Tk27.67 crore in the same period last year.

Robi's consolidated earnings per share stood at Tk0.13, net asset value per share at Tk12.24, and net operating cash flow per share at Tk3.41 at the end of June 2023.

The telecom network operation also reported that its revenue surged by 18% to Tk4,887 crore.

According to its financial statement, the company earned 20% higher revenue of Tk4,532 crore from mobile services, including voice, non-voice, data, subscription, and connection fees.

However, its revenue from the sale of devices declined by 74% to Tk3.95 crore, and other revenue like commission, IT professional services, and digital services revenue declined by 18% to Tk63.70 crore.

It commenced operations in 1997 as Telekom Malaysia International (Bangladesh) with the brand name "Aktel".

In 2010, it was rebranded as Robi, and the company changed its name to Robi Axiata Limited. The company also merged with Airtel.

As of 31 May 2023, the company had a total of 5.59 crore subscribers, up from 5.44 crore in December 2022.

The mobile network operator raised Tk523 crore from the stock market through an initial public offering in 2020.

Axiata Group Berhad owns 61.82% of Robi, Bharti Airtel of India owns 28.18%, and the general public holds the remaining 10%.

Its shares have been stuck on the floor price of Tk30 each since August last year at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Earlier, Robi Axiata decided to receive a $55 million shareholder loan facility from its parent company, Axiata Group, a Malaysian multinational telecommunications conglomerate.

In a stock exchange filing, Robi stated that it would secure the fund for a period of three years.

According to officials at the company, the loan is being taken as a precautionary measure to safeguard against any potential impact from the ongoing dollar crisis in the country.

Robi is not the first company to receive such a loan. Previously, Berger Paints also obtained a loan in foreign currency from its foreign partners.

The telecom operator stated that it did not need to pledge any assets as security and did not create any charge with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms in relation to this loan agreement.

The interest rate of the loan will be based on the secured overnight financing rate (SOFR), which is 1.2%.

The interest rate of this loan will be calculated by adding 1.2% to the SOFR, according to an official of the company.