Dhaka Tribune
Eric Aas says, the decision to be enlisted with the country’s bourses depends on shareholders and not on management
Banglalink recorded revenue growth of 7.2% year-on-year despite the impact of lockdown during early months of the quarter, said Banglalink’s CEO Erik Aas on Saturday.
"Banglalink's performance in 3Q21 is yet another reflection of efforts in providing quality digital services in Bangladesh. Thanks to a staggering 32% YoY data revenue growth, we managed to post a 7.2% YoY total revenue growth in this quarter,” he said.
He spoke at a press briefing at the Banglalink head office to brief the journalists about the outcome of the third-quarter earnings of the company at Gulshan on Saturday.
“Our customer focus, combined with targeted network investments and acquisition of additional spectrum, contributed to a 61.4% YoY growth in our 4G customer base and now Banglalink is serving 11.4 million 4G users, 33% of our total customer base. Our entertainment app Toffee continued to lead our progress in the digital service segment with its active user-base reaching 6.3 million.
“We are satisfied with the way Banglalink is moving forward with improved results in all segments. We will continue our efforts in providing quality digital services to customers across the country.
“As a result, the demand for personalized data offers was particularly strong, increasing by 78.4% year-on-year (YoY), which primarily contributed to a 32% YoY rise in data revenue during the quarter,” he added.
4G users led this expansion, rising in number by 61.4% YoY, and now accounting for 33% of Banglalink’s total customers.
Banglalink’s digital services continued to attract new customers, as video streaming app Toffee added an additional 1.4 million customers during the third quarter and recorded 6.3 million active users with ‘watch sessions’ up 5.1 times YoY to 150 million.
According to Banglalink’s CEO Erik Aas, the shareholders of the Veon, a subsidiary of the Dutch holding company that owns Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd in Bangladesh, will decide the listing of the company with the country’s share market.
“The decision of Banglalink Digital Communications Ltd on enlisting with the country’s bourses depends on the shareholders of the mother company, not by the management of the company,” he said.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is encouraging multinational companies and giant corporate houses to be enlisted with the country’s bourses to boost the share market.
Self-care app MyBanglalink saw a doubling of its active user base YoY to 3.1 million.
With continued investment in the 4G network, Banglalink now covers 69% of the population in 4G and is recognized by Ookla Speed-test as the nation’s fastest and highest quality 4G network provider.
Third-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 3.6% YoY, as a result of the growth in revenue, which was partially offset by higher technology costs and an additional 2.5% VAT imposed by the tax authorities on spectrum charge
Banglalink Digital Communications Limited is currently the third-largest cellular service provider in Bangladesh and is fully owned by Telecom Ventures Ltd. (previously Orascom Telecom Ventures Ltd.) of Malta, which is a 100% owned subsidiary of Global Telecom Holding, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of the Dutch holding company Veon.
