Robi's net profit slides 13pc

Robi's net profit fell about 13 percent year-on-year to Tk 113.1 crore in the third quarter of the year, according to a presentation by Axiata Group, the mobile operator's parent company.

Between July and September, the company recorded year-on-year revenue growth of 10.38 percent, according to its unaudited report.

The company reported Tk 1,340.9 crore in revenue in the third quarter of this year, rising from Tk 1,214.8 crore in the same quarter of 2014.

“Competition continues to be very stiff and in that context, Robi performed moderately,” Axiata Group said on its website. It was an “encouraging performance despite heightened competition”.

Performance was driven by the seasonality of Eid, device sales and data revenue growth.

Data accounted for 9 percent of the company's total revenue in the third quarter of last year, which rose to 10 percent in the third quarter of 2015.

Maintaining data revenue growth, smartphone penetration under Robi's network increased to 17 percent as of September, which was only 12 percent at the start of the year.

However, the average revenue per user eroded to Tk 142 in the third quarter from Tk 144 in the previous quarter due to stiff competition.

As of September, Robi had 2.84 crore active connections, witnessing a 13.6 percent year-on-year growth. Of the total active connections, only 1.58 lakh users are enjoying post-paid connections.