Impact of IFRS 16 adoption on the financial performance of telecom companies in Bangladesh

Abstract

This report is a report of the internship of H M Nafiz Pial in Grameenphone Ltd., the largest mobile telecommunication operator in Bangladesh in the Financial Accounting and Reporting (FAR) department as a intern between November 2025 and March 2026. The intern worked on a large-scale ERP migration project, the transfer of lease accounting data available on Oracle E-Business Suite to Oracle Fusion Cloud, the processing of more than 11 million records of transactions in about 30,000 lease agreements. Among the achievements were the creation of automated data-processing procedures that cut the time taken to prepare payment lines by 24 hours to 15 minutes, design of reconciliation structures to screen lease datasets before migrating, and functional liaisons with Treasury, Technology, Sourcing, and external BPO partners. The report also gives an overall organizational analysis of Grameenphone limited in relation to its management practices, marketing strategy, financial performance and positioning in relation to its competitors. As of 2024, Grameenphone has an overall dominant market leadership in Bangladesh with 84.3 million subscribers and a net profit margin of 22.9%. Chapter 3 presents the empirical research that investigates the effect of the adoption of IFRS 16 on the financial performance of telecom firms in Bangladesh based on 10 years of financial evidence (2014-2024). Results prove that IFRS 16 significantly changed the financial makeup of Grameenphone: the right of use assets increased to 36-43 per cent of the total asset after adoption, the mechanically improved EBITDA margins related to the reclassification of lease expenses, and the ratios based on the assets, including ROA and Asset Turnover, decreased. These are industry trends, which are validated by comparative analysis with Robi Axiata Ltd. The evidence supports the alternative hypothesis, according to which IFRS 16 adoption had a significant effect on leverage, profitability, and efficiency ratios.