Mobile phone operator, Robi ended the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 getting boosted credential as a digital company as the operator clocked up the highest single app user base in the industry with 1.47 crore users.
In the journey of digital transformation, Robi has also continued to gather momentum where digital recharge contributed 41.6 percent of the company’s total recharge during this period, according to business update report released today through press release.
“We are very pleased to see that our digital journey is accelerating in every possible way,” said Robi CEO Rajeev Sethi.
“Highest self-care app user base, highest percentage of 4G user base, highest percentage of data user base are clearly indicating that Robi is way ahead when it comes to positioning itself as the leader for the digital future,” he noted.
Robi said its digital supremacy reflected that 58 percent of its subscribers were using Smartphones whereas the industry’s average is only around 50 percent. In addition to it, 45 percent of its Smartphone users were using the company’s self-care app, My Robi and My Airtel.
With 55.4 percent of its total subscribers being 4G users, Robi continued to maintain leadership in 4G market and this is the highest proportion of 4G users among all the operators in the industry. Robi ensured 98.4 percent population coverage of its 4G network with 15,844 4G sites, said the release.
In terms of data users, around 76 percent of Robi’s total subscribers were internet subscribers in Q1’23 (Highest percentage of data users in the industry) while 73.1 percent of data users were 4G users.
Robi data subscribers consumed 6.23GB data every month on an average in Q1’23. Compared to the same quarter last year, data usage per subscriber, per month, increased by 34.8 percent.
The operator said due to forex loss and high taxation, especially 2 percent minimum tax, Robi’s leadership position as a digital company was not fully reflected in its profit after tax (PAT) for Q1’23. PAT for the quarter stood at Taka 42 crore.
However, compared to last quarter, Robi’s revenue shot up by 4.1 percent in Q1’23 to reach Taka 2,347.7 crore, while compared to the same quarter last year, it grew by 16.3 percent.
Voice revenue increased by 5.2 percent compared to last quarter and by 14.5 percent compared to the same quarter last year.
Data revenue grew by 3.4 percent compared to last quarter, while the same increased by 17.5 percent compared to same quarter last year.
Having added 12 lakhs subscribers, Robi’s subscriber base reached 5 crore 56 lakhs, representing 30.2 percent of the subscriber market share at the end of Q1’23.
Data subscriber base grew by 2.5 percent compared to last quarter to reach 4.21 crore. Compared to the same quarter last year, data subscriber base grew by 6.1 percent.
Robi’s 4G subscriber base reached 3.8 crore by end of Q1’23. Compared to last quarter, 4G subscriber base grew by 6.6 percent, and compared to the same quarter last year, it grew by 24 percent.
EBITDA in Q1’23 de-grew slightly by 1.4 percent compared to the last quarter to reach Taka 1,051.6 crore with 44.8 percent margin. Compared to the same quarter last year, EBITDA grew by 23.6 percent. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) in Q1’23 was Tak 0.08.
Robi paid Taka 1,103.8 crore to the national exchequer in Q1’23, which was 47 percent of the total revenue for the quarter. The company made Taka 215.9 crore CAPEX investment in the same quarter.
Regarding the company’s financial performance, Rajeev said, “With a strong performance in Q1’23, we feel Robi is well poised for the remaining part of the year.”
“Unfortunately, due to factors beyond our control, our PAT continued to struggle to fully reflect our robust performance,” he said, adding that “We urge the tax authority to remove the 2 percent minimum tax from the industry in the upcoming budget to ease the pressure for us.”
