WIder network: The 800MHz, along with Digi's existing 1,800MHz and 2,600MHz spectrums will enable it to better serve customers who are increasingly consuming video content.
SHAH ALAM: Digi.Com Bhd, which posted a net profit of RM373.1mil in the first quarter ended March 31, has declared an interim dividend of 4.70 sen per share amounting to RM365mil.
The telecom company’s revenue in the first quarter fell 4.8% to RM1.57bil against RM1.65bil a year ago. Its earnings per share fell to 4.80 sen in the first quarter against 5.13 sen a year ago.
Its service revenue for the first quarter stood RM1.47bil, moderated as a flow through from the decision to rationalise legacy prepaid services to enable more sustainable earnings for the future.
Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) strengthened to 45% margin or RM711mil, improving by 1.0% year-on-year while ops cash flow remained steadfast at RM514mil on the back of maintaining a more robust network and IT capabilities, and ongoing digital transformation efforts.
Its Internet revenue grew 15.2% from last year to RM621mil contributing 42.2% to service revenue as smartphone adoption rose to 68%.
Digi closed the quarter with 11.8 million subscribers with eight million active internet subscribers. Its prepaid subscriber base trimmed 613,000 to 9.6 million.
The telco’s postpaid revenue rose 12.1% year-on-year to RM520mil or an increase of 1.8% quarter-on-quarter on the back of robust postpaid internet revenue contribution of RM286mil.
However, the prepaid segment remains quite a challenge for Digi. Prepaid revenue decline widened to 13.1% year-on-year and 8.8% quarter-on-quarter to RM952mil.
Its postpaid and prepaid ARPU stood at RM79 and RM32 respectively.
Although Digi delivered continued solid postpaid growth for the quarter, overall subscriber base, ARPU and service revenue were undermined by prepaid contraction.
“This was a busy quarter for us as we focused on maintaining our margins, amid challenging market conditions. We are responding to these persistent market conditions with a long-term strategy anchored by our continued focus on postpaid, profitability and our digital transformation,” CEO Albern Murty said in a statement.
“We have made strategic decisions with our core business today to secure future growth and profitability – that is, to deliver great, worry-free and affordable internet services over our advanced 4G+ network which has fueled solid postpaid growth in the past quarters, stabilise prepaid to enable more sustainable earnings and opportunities moving forward, pay diligent attention to improve the efficiency of our operating model while maintaining a larger network and more advanced IT infrastructure,” he added.
Albern said the group’s performance and improved profitability in the quarter was a result of its overall digitisation efforts, focus on resilience and securing its financial strength.
“These efforts have led to our balance sheet remaining robust with solid financial capability and flexibility to fund our investments and operational commitments to move our business forward and into the future,” he added.
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