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GP profit soars, stocks swell

Star Business Report
Net profit of Grameenphone (GP) soared 40 percent in the six months through June this year, boosted by user additions and sales of handsets, the company said yesterday.
Net income of the leading mobile phone operator rose to Tk 677 crore in the first half of 2011, compared to Tk483 crore in the first half last year.
Meanwhile, stocks also jumped yesterday with GP's declaring a huge interim cash dividend of 140 percent for this year based on its half-yearly performance.
Revenue of the company also marked a rise by 21 percent to Tk 4,340 crore in the period, according to a statement of the company.
The total revenue in the second quarter (April-June) of the current year was Tk 2,273 crore, up by 21 percent from the same period last year.
The company expanded its retail network by
264,000 shops to reach rural areas and added 3.9 million new
customers in the six months. It had 33.8 million customers, with a 44.3 percent share of the Bangladesh market, at the end of June.
EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) margin for the first half of 2011 was 50.6 percent, which also increased by 2 percentage points compared to the first halfof2010.
GP invested Tk 551 crore during the first six months of 2011 for network modernisation and efficiency enhancement. With this, its cumulative investment since inception stands atTk 16,348 crore now.
GP, the largest taxpayer of the country, contributed Tk 2,344 crore to the state coffer during the first half of 2011. On account of corporate tax, it paid Tk 618 crore in the same period.
The dividend declaration by GP caught market attention, and fuelled buying interest during the day that saw the Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index, DGEN, gain over 100 points, or 1.55 percent, to close at
6,587.
The Selective Categories Index of Chittagong Stock Exchange, CSCX, also went up by 274 points or 2.33 percent, to end the day at 12,028.
The interim dividend this time is much higher than last year's 35 percent interim dividend and full year's 120 percent dividend.
After announcement of the interim dividend, each GP share soared by 10.22 percent to close at Tk 195, placing the lone listed telecom company on top of the gainers' list for the day.
The GP shares also left a positive impact on other sectors with the gainers beating the losers on a huge margin — 229 to 28. Four securities, however, remained unchanged.
GP topped the turnover leaders with 38.80 lakh shares changing hands on a value ofTk75.49 crore.
The GP shareholders will be entitled to the dividend on July 28 this year, which will be distributed within the timeframe stipulated by the regulator, according to the statement