Grameenphone Ltd. reported a total revenue of BDT 37.6 billion for the first quarter of 2026, registering a decline of 2.0% from the same period last year mainly due to the challenging macro economy. The company reported a total subscriber base of 84.2 million at the end of the first quarter. 58.4% of Grameenphone’s total subscribers, or 49.2 million, are using internet services as stated in the Press release.
“Despite the compounded external challenges, I am pleased to share that we have navigated the quarter with resilience and discipline and secured a stable EBITDA margin of around 58%. Overall, both financially and operationally, we have contained external vulnerabilities well and maintained stability in our performance. We continue to invest with long-term lens across network, IT, spectrum, and AI-led programs, alongside broader transformation and automation initiatives. These investments are building a more efficient, scalable, and digital-first operating model that can support future growth while maintaining cost discipline.,” said Yasir Azman, Chief Executive Officer of Grameenphone Ltd.
“We are actively transitioning towards a future‑fit, digital growth model. In our ambition to become an AI-first telco, we have started our AI&I journey, under which we are advancing multiple AI-driven initiatives across network and operations; benefits of these programs will start becoming visible in the coming quarters. We have recently acquired 700 MHz spectrum, which will help us to enhance rural coverage and significantly improve indoor network experience, addressing long-standing coverage gaps, while supporting the next phase of data growth and digital inclusion. As the new government accelerates digitization efforts, we are well‑positioned to be a key partner in building a sustainable telecom ecosystem that enables national digital transformation.,” he added.
Otto Magne Risbakk, Chief Financial Officer of Grameenphone Ltd. said, “For Q1’26, we delivered an NPAT of BDT 6.6 billion, representing a 4.4% year‑on‑year growth, with a net profit margin of 17.6%. Given the revenue and macro pressures discussed earlier, this outcome reflects strong financial discipline and improving earnings quality supported by lower depreciation and amortization cost and lower finance costs. On a year-on-year basis, we’ve registered a decline of 2.0% in total revenue largely driven by compounded macro conditions, with the decline in voice broadly offset by the growth in data. We saw continued growth in our data subscriber base and usage during the quarter, with active users up 1.7% to 49.2 million and usage rising 5.4% to around 7.7 GB per against same period last year. We see broad-based improvements across overall costs, where OPEX declined 2% and COGS declined 7.3% year-on-year. At the same time, we have been mindful to ensure that these efficiencies are not coming at the expense of customer experience or network quality. Moving to EBITDA, we do see a year-on-year decline of 1.5%, as expected in a softer revenue environment. However, the key point here is that the decline in EBITDA is meaningfully lower than the decline in revenues, which clearly indicates that cost has been managed effectively, allowing us to maintain an EBITDA margin of around 58% despite topline pressure
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