Robi profits fall on political unrest

Mobile operator Robi's net profit declined 11.20 percent year-on-year to Tk 92.7 crore in the first quarter of this year due to political unrest during the period.

"The blockade and shutdowns affected business activities on all fronts," Supun Weerasinghe, managing director of Robi, said at a press meet at the operator's head office in Dhaka yesterday.

During the period, the company recorded revenue growth of 4.1 percent, buoyed by the 171 percent growth in data revenue, compared to the same period last year.

Data revenue growth was propelled by significant investment in network, coupled with innovative data offerings aimed to increase 3.5G and 2.5G data use, officials of the operator said.

However, they declined to reveal the data revenue figure. 

After launching the 'internet.org' initiative under the 'free internet' package, Robi is losing Tk 20 lakh every day, but bandwidth use increased 40 percent, said Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, chief operating officer of Robi. 

The operator pocketed revenue worth Tk 1,216 crore between January and March this year, compared to Tk 1,168 crore in the first quarter of last year. 

However, revenue slipped 8.7 percent in January-March compared to the immediate past quarter, when it earned Tk 1,330 crore. 

"We experienced strong growth in data services in the first three months of 2015. Despite challenges, we continue to invest towards expansion of 2.5G and 3.5G networks across the country to provide a superior experience to our subscribers," Weerasinghe said. 

Robi currently has 2.63 crore subscribers, while it gained 10 lakh new subscribers in the just concluded quarter, marking 4 percent growth.  

Between January and March, Robi's capital expenditure was Tk 640 crore, while its total investment in Bangladesh now stands at Tk 14,860 crore.