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Axiata Group Berhad | Annual Report 2016
OPERATING COMPANIES BUSINESS REVIEW
042
Security and Home Automation. Dialog intends
to capitalise on IoT opportunities available to
further augment its profitability.
Key Highlights
• Subscriber growth of 19.5% to 33.8
million
• Data revenue growth of 38.9%
• Post-merger operating as “Robi
Axiata Limited”
• World’s # 1 Socially Devoted
Brand by ‘Socialbakers’
• GSMA Glomo Awards for Best
Mobile Innovation for Education
and Learning
About Robi
Robi Axiata Limited is a joint venture of Axiata
Group Berhad of Malaysia, Bharti Airtel Limited
of India (Bharti) and NTT DoCoMo Inc. of Japan
(NTT DoCoMo). The entity ‘Robi Axiata Limited’
merged with Bharti’s operation in Bangladesh,
‘Airtel Bangladesh Limited’, in November 2016 to
form the new entity where Axiata holds 68.7%
controlling stake, Bharti 25% while the remaining
6.3% is held by NTT DoCoMo.
The merged entity is the second largest
mobile operator in Bangladesh with 33.8 million
active subscribers. It provides the country’s
widest network coverage, covering 99% of the
population with 9,295 2G and 5,192 3.5G sites.
Robi is the first operator to introduce GPRS
and 3.5G services in Bangladesh. The Company
has introduced many first of its kind digital
services in the country and has invested
heavily in providing mobile financial services
to underserved communities in rural and semi-
urban areas.
Business Review 2016
2016 proved to be a challenging year for the
telco industry in Bangladesh, primarily due to
regulatory impacts from required compliance for
SIM biometric re-registration. The requirement
caused a drop off in new subscriber activations,
and subscriber growth was sluggish as a result.
The situation was further complicated by the
regulator deactivating unregistered biometric
non-compliant SIMs.
Despite these challenging circumstances, Robi’s
subscriber base increased by 19.5% to 33.8
million post-merger, representing 26.9% of
industry subscriber market share, effectively
cementing its position as the second largest
operator in Bangladesh.
Total revenue grew marginally by 0.5%
compared to the previous year, while data
revenue registered strong growth of 38.9%. Data
revenue growth was propelled by significant
network investments to the tune of BDT20.3
billion, coupled with innovative affordable data
offerings to drive 3.5G and 2.5G data use.
The Company continued investing aggressively
in fast-tracking its 3.5G network expansion
and improving 2.5G network quality for better
customer experience both in voice and data
services. Total capex investment made by Robi
since inception amounted to BDT182.6 billion.
Robi now has network coverage in all 64 districts
in Bangladesh with 9,295 2G and 5,192 3.5G sites.
Throughout the year, Robi continued with its
innovative and affordable product offerings in
the market. Among them were special offerings
to capture greater market share capitalising on
the public interest over the Robi-Bharti merger
such as the ‘Merger Bonanza Offer’ launched
on the eve of the merger. The Company also
expanded the Airtel-Yonder Music app offering
to subscribers of the Airtel brand.
With the successful completion of the final phase
of the merger in the fourth quarter of 2016, Robi
has been focusing on creating the number one
network which will deliver the widest mobile
network coverage and superior mobile services
experience to its subscribers.
Financial Performance
In 2016, Robi registered total revenue growth of
0.5% while data revenue grew significantly by
38.9%. Data revenue growth was due to focused
investments in network as well as innovative
affordable data offerings to drive 3.5G and 2.5G
data usage.
The Company registered fourth quarter Quarter
on Quarter (QoQ) revenue growth of 5.0%,
which includes 1.5 months of Airtel revenue and
solid growth within the data business segment.
PAT
5,188
9,041
2015 2016
SUBSCRIBERS
10.9
11.8
2015 2016
+9%
74%
(+33% normalised*)
SLR Million
Million
REVENUE
73,930
86,745
2015 2016
+17%
+23%
EBITDA & EBITDA
MARGIN (%)
32%
34%
23,824
29,212
2015 2016
SLR Million
SLR Million
Dialog
BUSINESS REVIEW
BLENDED ARPU
362
396
2015 2016
BLENDED MoU
(Per Sub Per Month)
145
133
2015 2016
SLR
Minutes of use/sub/month
* Normalised for forex losses