Maxis Q3 2014 profit up 2.9%, says key indicators ‘trending up’

  • Q3 service revenue remained steady at RM2.049bil, 7.6mil mobile Internet users now
  • Prepaid turnaround, took RM16mil revenue hit from re-pricing of postpaid PPU charges

MAXIS Bhd reported service revenue remained steady at RM2.049 billion in its third quarter (Q3 2014) ended Sept 30, 2014, while normalised profit after tax inched up 2.9% from the RM480 million registered in Q2 2014 to hit RM494 million.
 
Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) stood at RM1.070 billion, with an EBITDA margin on service revenue at 52.7%.
 
This quarter, Maxis took an RM16-million revenue hit from the re-pricing of postpaid pay-per-use (PPU) charges, the company said in a statement.
 
Despite this, it acquired more mobile Internet users, which surged to 7.6 million with revenue growing 6.7% quarter-on-quarter. Mobile Internet share of mobile revenue improved to 30%, driven by momentum gained from worry-free propositions and higher smartphone penetration, the company claimed.
 
Maxis also saw its blended smartphone penetration at 54% this quarter, up five percentage points, fuelled by attractively priced low-to mid-tier devices.
 
Maxis Q3 2014 profit up 2.9%, says key indicators ‘trending up’“We are progressing well with our transformation journey,” said Maxis chief executive officer Morten Lundal (pic).
 
“Our Q3 numbers were broadly stable, but with operational drivers showing an upward trend. We see many more opportunities to create positive surprises that make the customers feel special and create ‘Like’ moments,” he added.
 
The quarter saw Maxis registering a turnaround in its prepaid business, driven by strong product portfolio and distribution focus. It said it had a second consecutive quarter of prepaid subscription growth, closing the quarter with 9.1 million subscriptions.
 
In postpaid, the MaxisONE plan continued to gain good traction, bringing in a good balance of new and migrated subscribers as well as good ARPU (average revenue per user) impact, the company claimed.
 
Maxis said it invested RM337 million in capex (capital expenditure) this quarter and is on track to spend more than RM1 billion this year.
 
It said its new modernised network will reach more than 75% of the population before the end of this year, while its 2G and 3G population coverage is in excess of 95% and 85% respectively.
 
Maxis also claimed it leads the LTE population coverage in the country, which stood at 21%, covering key market centres and state capitals.
 
The company announced a third interim dividend of eight sen per share.
 
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