Grameenphone shareholders yesterday approved an amendment to the company's articles of association, allowing it to issue bonds or take bank loans of up to Tk 1,100 crore. The amendment is subject to approval from the regulator.
14th annual general meeting of Grameenphone
The approval to the amendment came at the 14th annual general meeting of the mobile operator at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.
Sigve Brekke, chairman of Grameenphone, and Tore Johnsen, chief executive officer, were present with other board members, senior officials and shareholders of the company. Hossain Sadat, company secretary, conducted the meeting with a question-answer session.
The shareholders approved final cash dividends at 85 percent of paid-up capital for the year to December 31, 2010, as recommended by the board of directors.
Some of the shareholders said the network system and internet services of GP are getting poor or bad, but they appreciated the company's corporate social responsibility interventions.
Johnsen said the management team of the company always tries to perform better. “This is the biggest company in the country. The network problems are occurring for the swapping or upgrading of the system. But the service quality, both voice and data, will be better than what it had been in the past.”
While replying to the shareholders' queries, Brekke said: “GP's revenue will increase in the following days. The company has seen a gradual increase in revenue but due to higher subscriber acquisition cost, the EBITDA margin was lower compared to 2009, which was mainly driven by high SIM tax.”
The total number of GP subscribers now stands at 31.982 million out of the country's total of 72.963 million mobile subscribers as of March 2011.
The company recorded a net profit of Tk 10.71 billion (1071 crore) in 2010, with 14.3 per cent margin compared to Tk 14.97 billion (1497 crore) with 22.9 per cent margin last year. Earnings per share for 2010 stood at Tk 7.93 compared to Tk 12.08 for 2009, the company's annual report revealed. The net asset value per share of the company stood at Tk 35.57 in the year ended December 31, 2010.
Mr Shamsi said GP has created a benchmark as a listed company which he thinks will be followed by other companies.
"We have conducted the fast-track IPO lottery, returned refund warrants to the applicants, held AGM in fastest possible time and distributed dividend in a fastest possible time," he added.
News Source:
The Daily Star