Robi profits surge 20pc

Robi's net profits rose around 20 percent year-on-year to Tk 440 crore in 2014 on the back of attractive customer-centric products and service offerings and effective cost management.

In 2014, the operator, the country's third biggest, saw its subscriber base increase 13.2 percent to reach 2.53 crore.

Its revenues stood at Tk 4,940 crore, up 9.4 percent year-on-year. Data revenue witnessed an unprecedented growth of 120 percent, in line with deployment of 3G services.

"I am pleased to see the growth momentum continued in 2014 across all dimensions of our business," Supun Weerasinghe, managing director of Robi, said, adding that the growth of voice service revenue was below expectations.

He said the current political situation is a concern and could impact growth in 2015.

About the spike in data revenue in 2014, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, chief operating officer of Robi, said the operator offered "innovative and customer-centric data products at most affordable price", which has made adoption of data services easier and cost-effective.

The company's investments in different enterprises and device business have also positively impacted on profits.

In 2014, it contributed Tk 2,170 crore to the national exchequer, which is 43.8 percent of its revenue.

Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter of 2014, the company saw its subscriber base increase from 2.5 crore to 2.53 crore through aggressive market promotions and customer centric acquisition offerings.

Its revenue rose 9.7 percent over the previous quarter to Tk 1,330 crore due to strong growth in data and post-paid voice revenue.

Formed in 1997, Robi is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc of Japan. At present, it is the second largest operator in terms of revenue.