[ Companies & Finance ] 2010-07-19

GP posts record high addition of 2.6m new subscriptions in Q2

Grameenphone Ltd reported BDT 35.81 billion revenues for the first half of 2010 with 12pc increase from the first half of 2009. Total revenue for the second quarter of 2010 was BDT 18.77 billion, up by 15pc from the same period of 2009. The growth in revenue was mainly in voice revenues due to subscription growth and revenues from sale of GP branded handsets and data cards. Data revenues also contributed to the consistent revenue growth, increased by 68pc from the first half of 2009. "We are delighted to share with our shareholders that GP has delivered a strong revenue and subscription growth in the first half of 2010," said Raihan Shamsi, Deputy CEO & CFO, Grameenphone Ltd." He added, "Superior service quality and innovative products & services have given us a competitive edge over the market. He also noted "our rural footprint is now even stronger through our new product 'Baadhon' bundled with low cost handsets." The Company has added record high 2.6 million new subscriptions during the quarter. This addition takes Grameenphone's total subscription base to 26.5 million, serving 44pc of the mobile market. Net profit after taxes for the first half of 2010 was BDT 4.83 billion with 13pc margin compared to BDT 4.78 billion with 15pc margin of the first half of 2009. Despite the revenue growth, the fall in margin was mainly due to heavy subsidy of BDT 3.27 billion provided by Grameenphone for high subscription acquisition.