Robi’s stock market debut on Thursday

Robi Axiata's initial public offering (IPO) is set to hit the secondary market on Thursday.

The company raised Tk 523.7 crore from the stock market by offloading 52.37 crore shares for Tk 10 apiece, eclipsing Grameenphone's Tk 486.1 crore floatation back in 2009.

Of this amount, around Tk 136 crore came from the telecom operator's employees while the remaining Tk 387.7 crore was raised from the market. Although it was the biggest IPO in the country's history, it was oversubscribed 5.74 times following a great hype among investors in the run up.

Being a multinational company, investors have huge expectations on the country's second largest telecom operator, said stock investor Zahidul Islam.

"Although its profits are still very low compared to its paid-up capital, we hope it will increase after the IPO funds are utilised," he added.

Robi's paid-up capital stood at Tk 4,714 crore while its turnover Tk 7,481 crore in 2019. Meanwhile, its net profit was around Tk 20 crore and earnings per share Tk 0.04.

Besides, the telecom operator posted a 77 per cent plunge in profits between July and September from that a year earlier.

With the IPO proceeds, it will expand its network coverage in order to grab more of the market share in the country.

Robi had 5.1 crore subscribers at the end of November, which is 30 per cent of the market, while Grameenphone has more than 7.76 crore active subscribers.

"We are proud to be on the verge of making our debut in the stock market with the country's largest ever IPO," said Shahed Alam, chief corporate and regulatory officer of Robi.

"Our focus will now turn to make sure we deliver the most innovative digital lifestyle solution for our customers while safeguarding the interest of our valued local and foreign shareholders," he added.

The company will be traded in the N category with the trading code Robi.

The Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission approved Robi's IPO on September 23, allowing it to raise funds from the stock market by issuing shares under the fixed price method.

Robi was the first operator to roll out 3.5G services in Bangladesh. It then introduced 4.5G services across all 64 districts in 2018.

Robi was also the country's first operator to test 5G service on its network.

The carrier started its journey in 1997 under the brand name Aktel. It then changed its name to Axiata (Bangladesh) in 2009 and then to the present Robi Axiata in 2010.