Get more data for the same price with Digi's updated Broadband packages.
KUALA LUMPUR: Digi.com Bhd’s net profit rose 5% to RM377.8mil in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2018 against RM360mil in the same corresponding period.
Its revenue for the quarter rose to RM1.67bil from RM1.64bil in the same period a year ago. Its earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter stood at 4.86 sen compared with 4.63 sen.
The telco declared a final dividend per share of 4.8 sen or RM373mil, payable to shareholders on March 29, 2019.
For the full financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 (FY18), Digi posted a net profit of RM1.54bil, or 19.82 sen EPS against RM1.47bil, or 18.99 EPS while revenue rose 3% to RM6.53bil.
In a statement, Digi said it closed the quarter with RM1.48bil in service revenue, now serving 11.7 million customers on its network. FY 2018 service revenue stood at RM5.92bil with a healthy earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of RM2.96bil or 46% margin.
The telco said its postpaid revenue grew 15.0% year-on-year (yoy) to RM667mil, adding 75,000 customers to its now 2.8 million postpaid base. The company registered its best performing postpaid revenue growth of 14.8% ahead of the industry to close FY 2018 at RM2.52bil, representing 43% of total service revenue.
Higher data consumption across its prepaid, postpaid and digital businesses drove overall internet revenue up by 13.7% y-o-y to RM849mil, constituting 57.3% of service revenue. FY18 internet revenue totalled RM3.23bil, 19.9% higher than last year.
“2018 was a strong year of execution for the business. We kept disciplined on driving growth, efficiency and digital transformation while staying focused on service delivery excellence to customers. This combined strategy has led us to deliver value for customers and shareholders alike.
“We plan to continue making smart investments to redefine our customer experience and offer affordable, meaningful connectivity for all, while enhancing targeted efficiencies,” CEO Albern Murty said in the statement.
Digi invested RM230mil capex or 15.5% of service revenue in the final quarter, summing up to a total of RM685mil capex investment (excluding spectrum assets) for the year to accelerate Digi’s LTE-A network coverage expansion to 65% of population, in addition to nationwide network and IT capacity upgrades and fibre network expansion.
Going forward, Digi expects to deliver sustainable service revenue growth and Ebitda development by better serving the existing base, growing the high ARPU base, maintaining network parity and operational excellence initiatives.
Digi said the service revenue growth guidance for 2019 would be around the 2018 levels while Ebitda guidance would be low single digit growth.
It said the capex to service revenue ratio guidance for this year would be 11% to 12%.
Win a prize this Mother's Day by subscribing to our annual plan now! T&C applies.
