Maxis Q1FY18 earnings up 4.2% to RM523m, Div 5c

KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd's earnings rose 4.2% to RM523mil in the first quarter ended March 31, 2018 from RM502mil a year ago and it declared an interim dividend of five sen a share.

The telco said on Thursday its normalised profit after tax was stable at RM510mil on the back of solid earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). 

“Normalised Ebitda continued to be stable at RM1.02bil slightly lower from RM1.024bil a year ago. Ebitda margin (on service revenue) was high at 51.5% against 49.3% last year, reflecting positive results from cost optimisation initiatives,” it said.

Its revenue fell 5.8% to RM2.237bil from RM2.375bil. Earnings per share were unchanged at 6.7 sen.

Maxis said its service revenue was marginally lower at RM1.98bil from RM2.076bil a year ago due to intense competition, particularly in the prepaid market. 

Its postpaid revenue grew 5.2% on-year to RM985mil from RM936mil last year, registering the highest shared line acquisition and increased average revenue per account (ARPA) through mobile and fixed offerings. 

This was supported by high monthly postpaid average revenue per user (ARPU) of RM92 and its flagship MaxisONE Plan (MOP) which continued to attract high-value subscribers. MOP registered 283,000 new additions on-year, bringing the total base to two million customers. 

However, its prepaid revenue softened to RM849mil from RM1.006bil last year due to lower subscription base. This was driven by aggressive price competition, continued SIM consolidation and migration to postpaid. 

“We continued to sustain high mobile internet penetration of 73%, which supported our high prepaid ARPU of RM41 per month,” it said.

Maxis chief executive officer Robert Nason said: “We delivered a steady quarter with solid Ebitda and high Ebitda margin in a highly competitive market. 

“Our focus remains on providing attractive products, great connectivity and worry-free experience to our customers. This will only get better as we progress with our ambition to be fully digital.”