Maxis sees steady growth in 2Q18
By Digital News Asia July 19, 2018
- Service Revenue up 1.7% q-o-q driven by postpaid growth momentum
- Declares a second interim dividend of five sen per share
MAXIS Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (2Q18) fell 16.43% to RM478 million, from RM572 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher depreciation expense.
Revenue stayed steady at RM2.25 billion, against RM2.34 billion the year before. Maxis declared an interim dividend of 5 sen per share to be paid on Sept 27, 2018.
For the six months ended June 30, Maxis posted a net profit of RM1 billion versus RM1,07 billion on revenue of RM4.48 billion against RM4.71 billion a year earlier.
“Our strong commitment and ambition to provide innovative, quality products and experiences have delivered steady results for 2Q18. We are happy that we are seeing strong growth in postpaid and good progress in the recovery of our prepaid business.
“We will continue to focus on operational efficiencies and invest in sustaining a superior network. All in all, we feel upbeat about what’s in store for our customers as we create more quality digital experiences for them,” said Maxis chief executive officer Robert Nason.
Service revenue grew by 1.7% to RM2,013 million from RM1,980 million last quarter, driven by strong growth momentum in postpaid in family-centric propositions.
Normalised Ebitda stood at RM1,007 million, slightly lower from RM1,020 million last quarter due to realised forex losses and higher marketing expenses. Ebitda margin (on service revenue) was at a stable 50%.
Normalised PAT declined to RM480 million due higher depreciation expense.
Postpaid revenue grew 2.4% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM1,009 million from RM985 million last quarter, with a stable ARPU of RM94.
The steady growth of Maxis’ subscription base stemmed from growth in shared lines as the telco continued to innovate to create value within family mobile plans. The flagship MaxisONE Plan continued to attract customers with device offerings, adding 67,000 new subscribers in 2Q.
There was continued strong growth in Home Fibre, with a 5.4% revenue increase in 2Q.
Prepaid revenue stabilised with a 0.6% growth to RM854 million q-o-q, with a slowing decline in subscriber base. These were attributed to marketing initiatives and the effective use of data analytics, leading to solid Mobile Internet (MI) revenue growth. Prepaid ARPU meanwhile remained stable at RM42 per month.
Delivering value
Maxis’ 4G LTE network covers 92% of the population. In 2Q18 the telco invested RM212 million in capex, an increase of RM105 million from the last quarter.
Customers’ blended data consumption saw an 18.7% jump to 9GB per month from a quarter ago. This was supported by the increase in smartphone penetration which stood at 83%.
In 2Q18, the telco launched Maxis ONERetail for business owners to maximise the potential of technology, improve their operational efficiency and stay relevant to their customers.
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