Forex loss dealt a heavy blow on Robi’s financials as it knocked off 49% of its profit after tax (PAT) in 2022. Instead of around 361 crore taka, Robi could only book 182.7 crore taka as PAT for the year; which means around 179 crore taka was lost as PAT due to this reason. Robi disclosed this while releasing its financial results for 2022 on Sunday. Robi continued to enjoy 4G leadership position in 2022 with 53% of its total subscribers being 4G users. Around 76% of Robi’s subscriber base were data users in 2022, which was the highest in the industry. Robi ensured 98.3% population coverage of its 4G network with around 16,000 4G sites at the end of 2022. Compared to 2021, data usage per subscriber, per month, increased by around 36%. In 2022, each Robi data subscriber consumed 5.5GB data every month on an average. Robi’s subscriber base grew by around 1.4% compared to 2021 to reach 5 crore 44 lakhs at the end of 2022, representing 30% of the subscriber market share; on the other hand, data subscriber base grew by 4% in 2022 to reach 4 crore 11 lakhs. Meanwhile, compared to 2021, Robi’s 4G subscriber base grew by 21% to reach 2 crore 89 lakhs. With 2,254.3 crore taka revenue in Q4’22, Robi’s revenue in 2022 reached 8,586 crore taka. Compared to 2021, revenue rose by 5.4% in 2022. Compared to Q4’21, revenue rose by 10% in Q4’22. Voice revenue in 2022 increased by 9%. Compared to Q4’21, voice revenue rose by 7% in Q4’22. Data revenue increased by around 2%, compared to 2021. Compared to Q4’21, data revenue rose by 16% in Q4’22. Including 384.4 crore taka CAPEX investment in Q4’22, Robi’s total CAPEX investment for 2022 reached 1,530 crore taka. Including 126 crore taka Profit After Tax (PAT) in Q4’ 22, Robi ended 2022 with 182.7 crore taka PAT, which is around 1.3% higher than 2021. EBITDA in Q4’22 was 1,066.4 crore taka (with 47% margin), while the EBITDA for 2022 reached 3,854.3 crore taka (with 45% margin), marking a rise of 16.5% compared to 2021. Robi’s total contribution to the Government exchequer reached 4,816 crore taka in 2022, including 1,366 crore taka in Q4’22. Robi contributed 60% of its revenue in Q4’22 and 56% of its revenue in 2022 to the Government exchequer. The company’s earnings per share (EPS) in Q4’22 was 0.25 taka; EPS for 2022 was 0.35 taka, which was around 1.3% higher than 2021. Had we not lost nearly half of our PAT to forex loss, our EPS for 2022 would have been 0.67 taka, which would have been 96% higher than 2021. Robi’s Board of Directors have recommended cash dividend at the rate of 7% (i.e. BDT 0.70 per share), which represents 200.7% of the PAT for 2022. The decision was taken at the Board Meeting held on 16th February, 2022. Robi’s 27th Annual General Meeting is scheduled to be held on 25th April, 2022. Commenting on the financial performance of the company, Robi’s CEO, Rajeev Sethi said: “Forex loss has deprived us from a stellar year; our moment of glory was snatched away when PAT literally halved due to forex loss. On top of that, application of 2% minimum tax felt like the last nail in the coffin as far as our PAT for the year was concerned. On the positive side, we managed to make significant gains out of our optimized cost structure. Going forward we will continue to leverage cost optimization to strengthen our bottom-line.” Raising concern over the unsustainability of the data business, he said: “Despite data traffic growth of 45%, our data revenue in 2022 only increased by around 2% compared to 2021 due to ever sliding data price induced by aggressive price war in the industry. In absence of data floor price, such price war is rendering the data business unsustainable. We urge immediate attention of the regulator on this matter.” Reflecting on the completion of Robi’s 25 years anniversary, Robi’s CEO Rajeev Sethi said: “2022 will always remain a special year for Robi, as we celebrated 25 glorious years of our operation this year. It was particularly heartening to note that we observed this poignant moment of our journey with the largest percentage of 4G users in the industry (53% of our subscribers being 4G users. Read more: Forex reserves can cover import for 5 months: Quader  

Robi Axiata has appointed Rajeev Sethi as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, the company said in a statement on Monday. He will be replacing M. Riyaaz Rasheed, who has been serving as Robi’s Acting Chief Executive Officer since August, 2021. Rasheed will now focus on his role as the company’s Chief Financial Officer. The statement said the Board of Directors of Robi Axiata Limited made the decision considering his notable success in turning around Myanmar’s leading mobile operator, Ooredoo, as its CEO. Prior to that he has successfully served as the Chief Commercial Officer of Airtel for Africa. Read:Robi signs tower-sharing deal with Teletalk, Summit He is also no stranger to Bangladesh as he had earlier served as the Chief Executive Officer of Telenor’s subsidiary, Grameenphone Limited. Joint Acting Group CEOs of Axiata Group Berhad, Dr Hans Wijayasuriya and Vivek Sood welcomed him as the new boss of the company in a challenging time in Bangladesh where telecommucation sector is going trough a number of challenges to move forward. “With market leadership in 4G and digital innovation, Robi is now well poised for its next wave of growth. At this point in Robi’s journey, we are very happy to have a widely regarded prolific growth driver like Rajeev Sethi taking on the leadership role of Robi,” they said in the statement.   Read: Tap offers bonus data, cashback on Robi, Airtel internet packages They said Rajeev’s leadership is crucial at a time when Robi is preparing to celebrate its 25th year of operation. “Rajeev’s leadership will certainly generate fresh momentum for Robi’s competitive strides in the Bangladesh market,” it said. The statement said Rajeev is considered to be an accomplished executive possessing a wealth of domestic and international experience of leading organisations in both startup and established stage with a strong track record of excelling in dynamic and demanding environment. Read Robi launches sales academy On assuming the role of Robi’s CEO, Rajeev said: “I am very excited to have the privilege of working with the leading digital company of Bangladesh, Robi Axiata Limited. Over the years, it has truly evolved into a digital telco that thrives on innovation.” “The best part is that the culture of innovation is deeply entrenched in Robi which bodes well for future growth. I am very confident that with the support of the team Robi, we can make significant gain in market share in the coming days,” he added. Robi Axiata's new CEO Rajeev Sethi has significant ICT industry experience, including executive engagements in companies such as Vodafone, HP, Hutchison Telecom and Asian Paints. Sethi received an MBA in Marketing, Finance and Operations from the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow. Read World HRD Congress: Robi scores Asia's Best Employer Brand Awards 2022

Robi Axiata, Teletlak Bangladesh and Summit Towers have entered into an agreement for sharing existing network infrastructure. Robi and Teletalk will be able to share their infrastructure in collaboration with Summit Tower as per infrastructure or tower sharing guidelines under the agreement.  A deal was signed among the companies recently in Dhaka. Read: Robi launches sales academy The partnership will help the operators with the quick rollout and serve their customers better. It will also help them optimise assets. Teletalk Managing Director (MD) AKM Habibur Rahman, Summit Tower MD and CEO Md Arif Al Islam and Robi ACEO and CFO M Riyaaz Rasheed signed the agreement, said a media statement.

Robi recently launched a sales academy for its employees. The academy is primarily designed to develop the functional and leadership capabilities of Robi's sales force, according to a media statement. Going beyond the conventional training methodology, Robi's sales academy will facilitate various experience-based learning opportunities for its sales force. Read: Huawei, RedDot team up to develop Bangladesh cloud market Also, the latest training evaluation methods will be applied to properly assess the progress of the training participants. The launching ceremony of the academy was held in Dhaka. Robi's Acting Chief Executive Officer and CFO M Riyaaz Rasheed, Chief Commercial Officer Shihab Ahmed and Chief Human Resources Officer Md Faisal Imtiaz Khan were present.

Team Instinct has become the winner of Robi Datathon 2.0, a competition for data scientists and data engineers to showcase their talents. Numpy became the first runner-up and Viking Raiders second runner-up. Team Instinct received Tk2 lakh prize money, first and second runner-up teams Tk1.5 lakh each. Nuren Shams and Yeaminur Rahman received Tk1 lakh each for being the best data engineers in the competition. Abdul Basit and Partho Ghosh were recognised as the best data scientists and received Tk1 lakh each. More than 2,800 participants from 11 countries took part in Datathon 2.0. One hundred made it to the final round. The top 25 teams then battled it out in a rigorous two-day hackathon. Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar handed over prizes to the winners at a city hotel in Dhaka Wednesday. Read: Bangladesh ICT Competition enters second round with 127 contestants "Data can be far more precious than oil and gold, but we need to have data scientists and data engineers who can elevate the worth of data to that level. I thank Robi for addressing this fundamental issue by organising Datathon 2.0," Jabbar said. M Riyaaz Rasheed, Robi's acting chief executive officer and chief financial officer, said: "The digital economy we are creating for a smart Bangladesh will require skilled data scientists and data engineers. Robi is proud to have taken up this cause by organising Datathon 2.0."

Telecom operator Robi Axiata beat United Group 2-1 in a tiebreaker to lift the title of the Absolute Corporate Football Carnival 2022. In the final, Shakib from Robi and Raju from United Group scored in each half. In the tiebreaker, Shaffy and Asif scored for Robi while Sohel netted one for United Group. In the group stage matches, Robi beat Chevron 6-0, IIDFC 2-0, Bengal Commercial Bank 5-2 and lost to United Group 0-3. Read: Robi offers 15% discount in Toggi Fun World for ‘Elite’ customers In the quarter-final, Robi beat JTI 3-0. They beat Grameenphone 4-2 in the semi-final. Shakib Ahmed of Robi was named the player of the tournament.

Robi’s customer loyalty and reward program ‘Robi Elite’ is offering 15% discount to its’ customers on all games and rides at the country’s largest amusement and virtual reality theme park, Toggi Fun World. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed recently in this regard between two companies, according to a press release To avail the exciting discount, Robi Elite users need to type REWTFW01 and send it to 1213. In reply, users will get a secret code which can be used to avail 15% discount at Toggi Fun World. Read: Robi suffers loss of Tk12.16 crore during Apr-Jun Toggi Fun World has a huge array of games and rides collection starting from trampoline, paintball to laser tag offering entertainment for kids, children, teenager and adults within a single premise. The main attraction of the theme park is its wide array of games and rides collection and pollution free, safe, friendly environment. Robi’s Chief Commercial Officer, Shihab Ahmed and Toggi Fun World’s Chief Marketing Officer & Member of Bashundhara Group Chairman’s coordination team, Ziaul Hoque Sikder signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organisations. Toggi Fun World’s Senior Executive, Marketing, Tuhidul Islam, Robi’s General Manager, Loyalty & Rewards, Md. Faisal Imam; Manager, Loyalty & Rewards, Tasnia Afrin; Specialist, Loyalty & Rewards, Sheikh Shahrukh Hossain played a vital role in establishing this partnership. Read Robi lift Absolute Corporate Football Carnival title

"Despite solid revenue growth and a steady rise in subscriber base," telecom operator Robi has reported a loss of Tk12.16 crore in the April-June quarter of this year due to the devaluation of taka against dollar.   The company's loss per share was Tk0.02 in that quarter, while its earnings per share were Tk0.09 at the same time a year ago, according to the unaudited financial statements. In Q2, the telecom operator's revenue was Tk2,105 crore, but due to changes in forex, it ended up losing Tk12.2 crore. Had it not been for the forex changes, the telecom operator said its profit after tax (PAT) for the period would have been Tk86.13 crore. Robi's revenue for the first six months of 2022 stood at Tk4,124 crore and PAT at Tk28 crore. Were it not for the losses induced by the forex changes, Robi's PAT figure for the first six months would have been Tk131.88 crore, the company said. Read: Robi unveils new digital brand Compared to the last quarter, the company’s revenue increased by 4.3 percent. And revenue grew by 3.7 percent compared to the same quarter of 2021. Voice revenue grew 4.6 percent compared to the last quarter and by 11.8 percent compared to the same quarter of last year. Data revenue grew by 3.7 percent compared to the last quarter. It dropped by 4.5 percent compared to the same quarter last year. Robi's subscriber base grew by 0.8 percent compared to last quarter, reaching 5.45 crore 45 at the end of the second quarter. Compared to the same quarter last year, the subscriber base grew by 5.2 percent. Robi's Acting CEO and CFO, M Riyaaz Rasheed said: "Losing our hard-earned profit to the devaluation of taka against the dollar is very painful. Since we rely on the international market to source telecom equipment, forex volatility is a major concern for us at the moment."

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission realised Tk 2.78 crore as fines from three mobile phone operators of the country over the allegations of operating illegal VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol). A total of Tk 2,78,25,000 fine have been collected from  Robi, Grameenphone and Banglalink, said BTRC in a press release on Thursday. Also read: BTRC places indefinite suspension on GP SIM card sale Robi paid Tk 2.10 crore, Grameenphone Tk 52.5 lakh and Banglalink Tk15.75 lakh between July 12 to 14. On April 10, the operators were asked to pay the fines after a hearing by the commission under sub-section 5 of section 65 of Bangladesh Telecommunication Act,2001, over the use of SIM (subscriber identity module) used in illegal VoIPs . Also read: BTRC fines 4 mobile operators Tk 7.65 crore

Robi Axiata Limited has unveiled a new digital brand, ‘Robi for Business’, for its enterprise business customers.  The brand unveiling ceremony was held at a city hotel recently, the telecom operator said in a statement on Tuesday.  With the help of the brand, Robi's enterprise customers will be able to digitalize their business activities. To this end, the operator will provide state-of-the-art digital solutions to customers. Also Read: Tamim becomes Robi brand ambassador The key feature of Robi for the business brand would be to serve the enterprise customers with reliable, innovative, and tailor-made digital solutions supported by advanced and customized customer services with the tagline “Your partner in digital transformation”. Robi acting CEO and chief financial officer M Riyaaz Rasheed said, “Launching of Robi for business marks the formal beginning of our journey beyond connectivity business. Partnering with the highly renowned local and global tech giants and supported by a highly-skilled digital workforce, we are now fully prepared to serve our valued customers in the enterprise sector in their digital transformation journey. We look forward to all your support and patronage in the coming days.” Read Robi's Binge available in 120-plus countries