GP profit soars 76pc

Grameenphone's profit jumped by 76.38 percent in 2011 to Tk 1,889 crore, riding on steady revenue growth and efficient cost management.
The leading cell phone operator announced its annual financial report at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
GP, the lone listed telecom company, declared another 65 percent cash dividend for 2011, taking its total cash dividend to 205 percent or Tk 20.5 per share of Tk 10 each in the year.
It declared 140 percent interim cash dividend in October last year.
Its earnings per share in 2011 stood at Tk 13.99 compared to Tk 7.93 in 2010, said Tore Johnsen, chief executive officer of GP.
“Amid strained global and local economic condition and critical regulatory environment rolled out to legal confrontations, we kept our focus in delivering services committed to our valued subscribers and demonstrated our resilience in acquiring the fair share of the market growth,” he said.
GP earned Tk 8,906 crore in revenues last year, registering a 19.2 percent growth on 2010. The growth was mainly from voice and interconnection revenues driven by subscription growth, revenues from data, roaming and wholesale business, said officials.
Total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2011 was Tk 2,283 crore, up by 16.6 percent from the same period of 2010.
Last year, the operator acquired 65 lakh new subscribers, leaving it with 3.65 crore clients in total. Its market share stands at about 43 percent.
The company said it invested Tk 1,296 crore in 2011 for network modernisation, capacity and quality enhancement.
It paid Tk 4,665 crore to the national exchequer in taxes, VAT and duties in 2011. The telecom operator also paid Tk 1,350 crore as the first instalment for licence renewal and spectrum fees.
However, GP's share was traded at Tk 147.80, down by 8.60 percent, at the Dhaka Stock Exchange yesterday.
Raihan Shamsi, deputy CEO and chief financial officer, and Kazi Monirul Kabir, chief communications officer, were also present.