The profit of Grameenphone, the country’s leading mobile phone operator, declined by Tk 210.86 crore or 16.44 per cent in January-September period of the present year compared to the same period of the previous year. The profit declined as the company made a large amount of payment to the government during the period, GP officials said. A GP financial statement published on Friday showed that the operator made Tk 1,071.43 crore from January-September which was Tk 210.86 crore less than the earning of Tk 1,282.29 crore in the same period of the previous year.
The earning per share of the company declined to Tk 7.93 in the first nine months of the present year while it was Tk 9.50 in the same period last year, according to the financial statements of the company published in some dailies.
The GP made Tk 573.94 crore profit in the third quarter (July-September) whereas its profit was Tk 316.16 crore during the same period last year.
The earning per share of the company, however, increased to Tk 4.25 in the Q3 this year while it was Tk 2.34 in the same period last year.
The mobile operator’s profit decreased by 87 per cent in the second quarter of this year due to adjustment of the increased corporate tax that the government imposed in the budget for the financial year 2013-14.
The GP reported Tk 58.51crore net profit after tax in the Q2 (April-June) whereas its profit was Tk 446.37 crore during the same period last year.
The earning per share of the company declined to Tk 0.43 in the Q2 from that of Tk 3.31 in the same period last year.
A senior official of Grameenphone told New Age that the profit of the company declined in the first nine months as it had to make some payments to the government.
The company adjusted the increased corporate taxes imposed by the government for the FY14 and paid licence fees to the government during the period which were the main reasons behind the decline in profit, he said.
The government in the budget for the current financial year increased the corporate tax for publicly-listed telecom companies to 40 per cent from 35 per cent.
The operating profit of the company, however, increased slightly by 1.20 per cent or Tk 30.28 crore during the January-September period.
The GP made operating profit of Tk 2,543.19 crore in first nine months of the present year while it was Tk 2,512.91 crore in the same period last year.
Operating profit of the GP increased by 18.45 per cent or Tk 148.69 crore in January-September period compared with the same period of the previous year.
The operator reported Tk 954.24 crore operating profit in Q3 while it was Tk 805.55 crore during the same period last year.
-With New Age input
