Robi’s EPS drops 81% in the December quarter

Robi Axiata Limited, the country's second-largest mobile network operator, suffered an 81% year-on-year drop in its earnings per share (EPS) to Tk0.02 in the final quarter of 2021.

It is its lowest earnings since listing on the stock market in 2020.

On Tuesday, Robi approved its annual financial statements and declared dividends for its shareholders at a board meeting.

It will explain the earnings drop and provide further details about the dividends at a press briefing on Wednesday, according to the company.

Its officials declined to make any comments before the press briefing.

Robi did well in the July-September quarter when it posted EPS of Tk0.17, which was 113% higher than the previous year.

At the end of 2021, its EPS stood at Tk0.34, slightly higher than 2020.

The mobile operator recommended a 2% cash dividend for its shareholders for 2021. Earlier, it had paid a 3% interim cash dividend on the basis of the quarterly report. The total dividend stood at 5% for the last year.

Earlier in November 2020, Robi collected Tk523.7 crore by issuing an initial public offering (IPO) for its network expansion.

On 24 December, its shares started trading on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). In a few days after debut trading, its share price jumped to Tk70 from Tk10 per share. After that, its share price fell gradually as it failed to pay dividends in 2020.

On Tuesday, its DSE share price closed at Tk36.2.

Meanwhile, its main competitor Grameenphone's net profit dropped 8.2% to Tk3,422 crore in 2021 owing to an increase in finance and tax expenses.

Jens Becker, chief financial officer at Grameenphone, said in a press release in January the net profit declined last year due to favourable one-offs adjustments in its finance costs and tax expenses.

Grameenphone, the country's largest mobile telecom operator, recommended a total of 250% cash dividend including 125% interim for 2021.