AHSAN HABIB

Bangladesh’s top two mobile operators, Grameenphone (GP) and Robi Axiata, posted contrasting earnings in the first nine months of 2025, owing to diverging cost structures and financial strategies amid a wider economic slowdown.

Robi’s profit surged 55 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Tk 625 crore between January and September, the second-largest telecom operator said in its financial statements released yesterday.

Earlier on Sunday, GP, the largest telecom operator in the country, posted a profit of Tk 2,264 crore for the period, a 23 percent decline YoY.

Both, however, reported lower revenues as consumer spending remained subdued. GP’s revenue dropped 1.3 percent year-on-year to Tk 11,947 crore in the nine months, while Robi’s revenue fell 2.4 percent to Tk 7,407 crore.

The difference in profits largely stems from the companies’ financing and cost management.

GP’s finance costs rose 33 percent to Tk 453 crore during the January-September period, driven by higher interest expenses on lease liabilities, which jumped about 23 percent. Robi, in contrast, reduced its net finance costs by 5 percent to Tk 519 crore, thanks to a 2 percent drop in interest expenses on lease liabilities.

Lease liabilities represent a company’s obligation to make payments for leased assets over time.

Operating costs also moved in opposite directions. For GP, they climbed to 64 percent of total turnover from 61 percent last year. Robi, meanwhile, brought its operating costs down slightly to 79 percent of turnover from 78 percent, which is still far higher than its rival’s.

This efficiency gap explains why Grameenphone’s profit margin – the profit a company It said