KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd
on Wednesday posted RM407.2mil in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, more than double last year’s RM188.9mil from improved overall operational performance.
The telecommunication group said its profit after tax (PAT) was up 82.8% to RM479.1mil from RM262mil in the previous quarter from improved overall operational performance.
“Excluding share of losses from the group’s associate, Idea, which recorded RM109.4mil loss for the quarter against RM25.2mil in the previous quarter, Axiata’s PAT for the quarter would have more than doubled for the period,” Axiata said in a statement.
Axiata’s revenue rose to RM6.05bil, its highest quarterly revenue to date, compared with RM5.31bil in the same period a year ago. Its earnings per share stood at 4.50 sen against 2.10 last year.
It said revenue growth was further enhanced by solid growth in data revenue which grew almost 11% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to now account for 44.1% of service revenue solidifying the group’s data leadership position
Axiata’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was up by 5.6% QoQ to RM2.3bil on the back of greater cost efficiencies derived from its ongoing cost and capex optimisation programme. The initiative delivered approximately RM580mil in savings group-wide for the quarter.
For the first six months to June 30, Axiata’s net profit rose 15.9% to RM646.2mil on a 15.7% improvement in revenue to RM11.9bil. Its Ebitda grew 12.4% to RM4.4bil during the period.
Axiata said its balance sheet continued to strengthen significantly resulting in healthier cash balance at RM7.4bil from RM6.7bil in the previous quarter. At the same time, gross debt/Ebitda also improved from 2.4 times to 2.3 times in the quarter from further paring down of debt.
Axiata has declared an interim dividend of five sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017.
“While the group achieved better-than-expected half year performance, there remain considerable macroeconomic and industry challenges. As such, the board is supportive of the ongoing turnaround of key units, while balancing the need to remain fiscally disciplined in terms of dividend and investment policies,” Axiata chairman Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said in the statement.
Meanwhile, president and group CEO Tan Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim said all its OpCos were performing better than the industry in terms of revenue growth to set a new milestone – its highest quarterly revenue to date to surpass the RM6bil mark.
“At the same time, the turnaround at Celcom and XL’s transformation strategy are showing encouraging signs. Our group-wide cost and capex optimisation programme which we initiated at the end of 2016 has already delivered a savings of close to RM600mil. All this has cumulated to an overall excellent quarter for the group,” he said.
Going forward, Jamaludin said the group remained “dedicated on meeting all our headline KPIs for 2017”.
“While there are encouraging signs at Celcom and XL, we remain cognisant of significant challenges ahead, especially with heightening competition in most markets,” he said, adding that it had raised its 2017 capex guidance to RM7.1bil from RM6.6bil.
At a media briefing, Jamaludin said the group did not rule out selling out the company’s stake in Idea Cellular but was not under pressure to sell. He added that the synergistic benefits of the merger between Idea and Vodafone had not been effected.
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