KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd
ended its 2021 financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, with a net profit of RM818.9mil, about 2.25 times net profit of RM365.16mil in the previous year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose to RM11.4bil, which was 7% higher than in the previous year.
The telco group said in a statement that all operating companies (Opco) except NCell registered higher contributions to overall revenue of RM25.9bil, which was 7% improved over that of 2020.
In particular, the group said Celcom's transformation yielded strong results in FY21 with a recovery on the back of subscriber additions of over 900,000 in both prepaid and post-paid segments.
Celcom's revenue ex-device increased 5.6% through double-digit growth in prepaid revenue and robust postpaid performance while Ebitda - excluding the one-off impact of its employee restructuring programme - rose 5.8% with revenue flow through and improved cost management.
Meanwhile, Axiata recorded opex and capex savings of RM696mil and RM1.3bil, amounting to RM2bil in FY21.
It closed the year with a resilient balance sheet as gross debt/EBITDA lifted to 2.56 times with the acquisition of Touch Mindscape, while cash balance remained healthy at RM7bil.
For the fourth quarter alone, Axiata's net profit was RM116.02mil compared with a net loss of RM255.96mil in the previous year, while revenue was up 10.2% to RM6.9bil.
The board declared a second interim dividend of 5.5 sen per share, which brought total 2021 dividend payout to 9.5 sen or RM871.5mil.
"Emerging from a very challenging year, Axiata’s growth in 2021 reflects well on our move to expand from a pure play mobile focus to include digital and infrastructure businesses.
"We continue to embrace digitisation and analytics at the core of this transformation to effectively identify shifting consumption patterns," said Axiata chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan.
He added that the group's improved performance in the MSCI ESG Rating and FTSE ESG Index is encouraging and stand by by its commitment to sustainability as a responsible business.
Axiata president and group CEO Datuk Izzaddin Idris said the group has delivered better-than-expected results, surpassing its KPI guidance of low single-digits to record revenue and Ebitda growth of 8.3% and 8.5% respectively.
“Entering 2022, we’ll be focused on sustaining this growth momentum and are circumspect in targeting mid single digit for revenue growth and high single digit for EBIT growth in view of prevailing tough external conditions. Capex is targeted at RM7.1bil,” he said.
Moving forward, he said the group will closely monitoring macroeconomic, regulatory and industry risks in addition to developments in Myanmar.
"Business wise, we are positive about upsides in Indonesia, revenue uplift from demand for data, digital content and enterprise digital transformation as well as the integration of completed acquisitions in 2021.
"We’re also looking at potential inorganic opportunities for 2022,” he added.
ended its 2021 financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, with a net profit of RM818.9mil, about 2.25 times net profit of RM365.16mil in the previous year.Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose to RM11.4bil, which was 7% higher than in the previous year.
The telco group said in a statement that all operating companies (Opco) except NCell registered higher contributions to overall revenue of RM25.9bil, which was 7% improved over that of 2020.
In particular, the group said Celcom's transformation yielded strong results in FY21 with a recovery on the back of subscriber additions of over 900,000 in both prepaid and post-paid segments.
Celcom's revenue ex-device increased 5.6% through double-digit growth in prepaid revenue and robust postpaid performance while Ebitda - excluding the one-off impact of its employee restructuring programme - rose 5.8% with revenue flow through and improved cost management.
Meanwhile, Axiata recorded opex and capex savings of RM696mil and RM1.3bil, amounting to RM2bil in FY21.
It closed the year with a resilient balance sheet as gross debt/EBITDA lifted to 2.56 times with the acquisition of Touch Mindscape, while cash balance remained healthy at RM7bil.
For the fourth quarter alone, Axiata's net profit was RM116.02mil compared with a net loss of RM255.96mil in the previous year, while revenue was up 10.2% to RM6.9bil.
The board declared a second interim dividend of 5.5 sen per share, which brought total 2021 dividend payout to 9.5 sen or RM871.5mil.
"Emerging from a very challenging year, Axiata’s growth in 2021 reflects well on our move to expand from a pure play mobile focus to include digital and infrastructure businesses.
"We continue to embrace digitisation and analytics at the core of this transformation to effectively identify shifting consumption patterns," said Axiata chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan.
He added that the group's improved performance in the MSCI ESG Rating and FTSE ESG Index is encouraging and stand by by its commitment to sustainability as a responsible business.
Axiata president and group CEO Datuk Izzaddin Idris said the group has delivered better-than-expected results, surpassing its KPI guidance of low single-digits to record revenue and Ebitda growth of 8.3% and 8.5% respectively.
“Entering 2022, we’ll be focused on sustaining this growth momentum and are circumspect in targeting mid single digit for revenue growth and high single digit for EBIT growth in view of prevailing tough external conditions. Capex is targeted at RM7.1bil,” he said.
Moving forward, he said the group will closely monitoring macroeconomic, regulatory and industry risks in addition to developments in Myanmar.
"Business wise, we are positive about upsides in Indonesia, revenue uplift from demand for data, digital content and enterprise digital transformation as well as the integration of completed acquisitions in 2021.
"We’re also looking at potential inorganic opportunities for 2022,” he added.
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