Bangladesh-based Grameenphone recorded a seventh consecutive quarter of year-on-year revenue growth in Q4 2022 despite its subscriber base being diminished by a government ban on SIM sales, as it continued to invest heavily in its data network.

In a statement, CEO Yasir Azman noted the company exhibited resilience in the face of external headwinds and ended the year with continued top-line growth momentum.

Net profit dropped 54.4 per cent year-on-year to BDT3.7 billion ($34.8 million), attributed to higher finance costs, and higher depreciation and local currency devaluation.

Revenue rose 3.5 per cent to BDT37.5 billion.

Azman credited the growth to its increased network investment and deployment of new spectrum in the 2.6MHz band.

Its subscriber base contracted 5 per cent to 79.1 million.

The government banned it from selling SIMs in H2 2022, with the restriction lifted at the beginning of this year.

LTE subscribers grew 23.6 per cent to 34.2 million, with data revenue growing 11.9 per cent to BDT9.9 billion and ARPU 7.9 per cent to BDT153.

The operator added 2,300 4G sites in 2022 for a total of 19,600, increasing LTE coverage 1.1 percentage points to 97.9 per cent.