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GP profit rises 26pc in Jan-Sep

Star Business Report
Net profit of Grameenphone rose 26.6 percent to Tk 2,610 crore in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period a year ago, on the back of higher growth of data and voice revenues.
The figure was slightly lower than the full-year profit ofTk 2,740 crore in 2017 but higher than the profit recorded in any other previous years.
The leading mobile phone opera-
tor logged Tk 889 crore in profit in the third quarter, up 27.72 percent from Tk 696 crore in the same period a year ago, the company said in a statement.
Earnings per share for January-September were Tk 19.32. It was Tk 15.88 during the same period a year ago.
The EPS was Tk 6.58 in the third quarter against Tk 5.16 in the same period in the previous year.
"Grameenphone reported healthy EBITDA [earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation] growth and strong margins during the period,” said Karl Erik Broten, chief financial officer of the operator.
He said the company has focused on providing the best network experience for its customers as well as acquiring quality subscribers.
The operator ended the third quarter with 7.14 crore active subscribers, registering an 11.8 percent year-on-year growth.
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With 3.63 crore data subscribers, 50.9 percent of the total subscribers on the GP network are using internet services, according to the statement.
GP reported revenue of Tk 9,810 crore for fanuary-September, up 1.9 percent from the same period last year.
Data revenue grew 19.5 percent year-on-year and voice revenue growth was up 4.8 percent.
Normalising accounting practice changes the total revenue growth to 5.1 percent year-on-year, the company said.
"The third quarter of 2018 saw the implementation of many directives, most notably the VAT reduction on data and uniform floor tariff,' said Michael Patrick Foley, chief executive officer of GP.
*We crossed 3.8 million 4G subscribers with a little over half of our total subscribers using our internet services. Our revised voice portfolio and new value propositions in data offers are creating positive traction in the market.'
GP invested Tk 3,007 crore for 4G licence and spectrum acquisition, tech-neutrality conversion fee and network coverage, as well as capacity enhancement.
In the third quarter, the company contributed Tk 2,140 crore to the national exchequer, which accounted for 62.4 percent of the total revenue. Cumulative contribution for the year stands at Tk 6,910 crore.
Listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange, GP's shares rose 1.62 percent to close at Tk370.20 yesterday.