Grameenphone’s profit falls 12pc, hit by SIM sale ban

Grameenphone’s profit has fallen 12 per cent year on year to Tk 30.1 billion in 2022 as the regulatory ban on sales of SIM cards hurt the mobile phone operator’s subscriber growth for the second half of the year.

Its subscriber base shrank 5.0 per cent to 79.1 million at the end of 2022. The number of subscribers who used Grameenphone’s internet services also fell by 2.2 per cent to 43.6 million, according to the company’s financial statement released on Tuesday, reports bdnews24.com.

The company’s revenue grew 5.1 per cent to Tk 150.4 billion in 2022 from a year earlier, but its net profit for the fourth quarter was adversely impacted by a forex loss and “negative verdict of legacy litigation”, CFO Jens Becker said in a statement.

The Board of Directors of Grameenphone has recommended Tk 9.5 in final cash dividend per share.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission barred the sales of new SIMs by Grameenphone, citing the “poor quality” of the carrier’s services on Jun 29, 2022.

The regulator lifted the ban after six months, clearing the way for Grameenphone to acquire new customers.

Grameenphone, the Bangladesh unit of Norway's Telenor, has remained the largest mobile phone operator in the country despite the ban on sales of its SIM cards.

The Supreme Court had ordered the private mobile operators to pay a total of Tk 23.55 billion in various types of fees and value-added tax earlier in January. Grameenphone alone will have to pay Tk 11.65 billion.

The financial statement said the company is subject to periodic challenges by local tax authorities on a range of tax matters during the normal course of business that could eventually require payments of taxes and possible additional charges. “The assessment of uncertainty and risk of one or more unfavourable outcomes involves prudent judgment from management.”