It aims to be the leader in enterprise fixed connectivity, managed services, cloud services and IoT solutions.
KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd
posted a stronger set of financial results in the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 (Q1 FY19) compared with the preceding quarter of Q4 FY18.
It announced on Friday net profit rose 54% to RM409mil from RM266mil despite a 9% decline in revenue at RM2.23bil from RM2.44bil.
When compared with Q1 FY18, net profit for the quarter just ended fell by 21.8% from RM523mil. Its revenue dipped to RM2.232bil from RM2.237bil a year ago.
Earnings per share were 5.2 sen compared with 6.7 sen. It rewarded shareholders with a dividend of five sen a share.
Q1 FY19 vs Q4 FY18 (in parenthesis)
Maxis said in Q1 FY19, service revenue decreased by 4.9% to RM1.947bil (RM2.048bil).
This decrease was largely driven by two factors namely – reduced average revenue per user (Arpu) in both postpaid and prepaid.
The reduced Arpu in both postpaid and prepaid was due to the new lower mobile termination rates (MTR) reducing MTR based revenue and termination of a network sharing agreement.
Service revenue, excluding wholesale revenue, was RM1.876bil (RM1.930bil).
Postpaid service revenue fell by 5% to RM1bil (RM1.053bil) due to higher RGS base being offset by a lower ARPU; and termination of a network sharing agreement ending in December with limited roll over in to 2019.
The postpaid RGS grew by 126,000 -- a 4% increase to 3.261 million (3.135 million) contributed mainly by growth in the MaxisONE Plan subscriber base.
“Our Hotlink Postpaid Flex and MaxisONE Share offering continued to attract entry level Postpaid subscribers, as well as those migrating from Prepaid to Postpaid.
“Postpaid Arpu decreased to RM88 (RM94) for the quarter as a result of decreasing MTR and seasonality of roaming. Postpaid smartphone penetration stood at 88% (87%) and data usage remained consistent at 12.2GB (12.2GB).
Prepaid service revenue declined by 5.7% to RM797mil (RM845mil). Prepaid RGS dipped by 143,000, a 2.2% reduction to 6.467 million subscribers.
“We continue to see SIM consolidation and migration from prepaid to postpaid,” it said.
Prepaid Arpu fell by 4.8% from RM42 to RM40 per month. Similar to postpaid, the decline in Arpu was a result of reduced MTR and seasonality in IDD call patterns.
Prepaid smartphone penetration stood at 84% against 83% in the previous quarter and data usage increased to 11.5GB (10.4GB).
Normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) increased by 24.1% to RM953mil with a normalised Ebita margin on service revenue of 48.9% (RM768mil, normalised Ebitda margin on service revenue of 37.5%) as Q4 FY18 was impacted by one-offs of about RM250mil.
Normalised profit rose 56% to RM404mil from RM259mil while capex was lower at RM127mil from RM524mil.
Q1 FY19 vs Q1 FY18
Maxis said its service revenue for Q1FY19 of RM1.947bil was 1.7% lower than RM1.98bil a year ago.
“This was largely contributed by the decline in prepaid RGS, overall reduction in Arpu, and termination of a network sharing agreement, offset by the growth in Postpaid RGS and Home Fibre RGS,” it said.
However, postpaid service revenue grew by 1.5% to RM1bil compared to RM985mil a year ago.
The growth was supported by the solid increase in subscriber base of 349,000 to 3.261mil (Q1FY18: 2.912mil).
Maxis said prepaid service revenue declined by 6.1% to RM797mil from RM849mil on the back of a lower subscription base which was impacted by the continued SIM consolidation, migration from Prepaid to Postpaid and reduced MTR.
The number of subscribers fell by 319,000 from 6.786 million in Q1FY18 to 6.467 million.
It pointed out mobile internet revenue contributed to the stable underlying Arpu of RM40 per month.
Normalised Ebitda fell by 6.6% to RM953mil from RM1.02bil. The Ebitda margin on service revenue was 48.9% compared with 51.5%.
“The rebasing of the Ebitda is due to factors including the termination of a network sharing agreement, continued investment in FibeNation and mobilsation of trhe enterprise business growth opportunities,”Maxis said.
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