Dhiraagu has successfully concluded 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Crossroads Maldives. The AGM was conducted on a hybrid model where 86 shareholders registered to participate at the meeting. Similar to past two years, all registered shareholders voted through ‘Fahivote’, an online General Meeting Management System developed by Maldives Security Depository Pvt Ltd. With 85 shareholders representing 71,369,648 shares, 33rd AGM concluded successfully by passing all five resolutions proposed.
Dhiraagu’s total revenue for the financial year 2021 increased by 1.8% to MVR 2.5bn with the main increment coming from fixed broadband and enterprise services due to the economic recovery and improvement in the tourism sector. The Company continued its focus on cost optimization measures considering the uncertainties due to the global pandemic and to ensure sustainable shareholder returns. These measures helped EBITDA to increase by 7.3% to MVR 1.4bn and Net Profit to increase by 11.0% to MVR 813m.
In line with the Company’s commitment to provide returns to its shareholders, it was resolved to approve a full year dividend of MVR 6.20 per share which compromises of MVR 2.07 per share paid as interim dividend in 2021 and MVR 4.13 per share approved by the shareholders as the final dividend during the 33rd AGM.
2021 was a year of recovery following the challenges in 2020 caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The financial performance significantly improved due to the economic recovery and successful investment program to extend and upgrade services, helping drive the digitalisation of the nation. Dhiraagu also supported the Government’s initiative to make internet more affordable and provide greater value for money across our fixed broadband and mobile broadband service offerings.
Having anticipated the rising demand for reliable, high speed and low latency connectivity, in 2021, the Board approved Dhiraagu to join the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western-Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) consortium and invest in the SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable system which is expected to be completed by Q1 2025. This investment is of great importance for Dhiraagu as it would strengthen the leading position in the Maldivian markets and put a halt to dependency on a single geography for international connectivity.
In addition, the public shareholders also elected Mr. Ahmed Mohamed Didi with 84 votes as the new Public Director of the company.
While the digital transformation journey continues to accelerate, Dhiraagu remains committed to empowering digital communities across the nation. Additionally, as per the values and mission of Dhiraagu, ‘to enrich lives through digital services’ – it continues to guide them as they create long term value to the shareholders.
To read the full Annual Report 2021, please visit https://bit.ly/3udNAc0
