Axiata group chief executive officer and managing director Vivek Sood.
KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd
is exploring further monetisation of some of its assets to reduce debt and fund new profitable growth opportunities.
Group chief executive officer and managing director Vivek Sood said this would also allow it to pare down its debt at the holding company level.
He said the group is looking to monetise its infrastructure and digital businesses.
“Our focus on the growth and profitability of these businesses remains on the cards. Moving forward, we will look at the monetisation of some of these assets,” Sood said at the group’s financial year 2024 (FY24) media briefing yesterday.
“We are also potentially looking at new shareholders or investors for these assets. Our mobile and connectivity businesses remain core to us and we continue to focus on operational excellence and profitability,” he added.
Sood said Axiata hopes to secure a new investor in Boost Holdings Sdn Bhd by the end of the second quarter, pending the necessary regulatory approval.
“This will help us fund the future capital requirements of the bank at the holding company level,” he said.
Meanwhile, Axiata group chief financial officer Nik Rizal Kamil Nik Ibrahim Kamil highlighted that Axiata is on track to further reduce its indebtedness.
“In FY24, we were successful in reducing the group’s debt by RM1.7bil.
“Our stated aim is to bring down net debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) to 2.5 times by the end of FY26,” he said.
“I’m pleased to say we continue to make progress on this front last year and we will continue to do so in FY25 as well.
“It is difficult to give a target now as it is dependent on several factors since a big chunk of this debt are US dollar-denominated debt and it sits at the holding company,” he added.
Additionally, Nik Rizal Kamil said the US dollar to ringgit exchange rate will play a part in determining the total debt to be paid down this year.
Meanwhile, Sood said the recent proposed merger of PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) and two other firms in Indonesia will see the group using the US$475mil arising from the corporate exercise to mainly pare down debt.
On capital expenditure (capex), Axiata has earmarked RM4.4bil for capex this year, with a significant portion allocated to its Indonesian and Bangladeshi operations.
“edotco, XL and Robi – these are growth markets for us and it is appropriate to continue investing in these markets,” Sood said.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2024, Axiata’s net loss narrowed to RM224.8mil compared with a net loss of RM695mil a year ago.
Revenue dipped to RM5.4bil against RM5.9bil in the same quarter last year.
Axiata reported a 12.3% increase in ebitda, while ebit more than doubled as net profit surged by over 100% to RM946.8mil.
For FY24, Axiata recorded a net profit of RM946.8mil, with an earnings per share of 10.30 sen, compared to a net loss of RM2bil and a loss per share of 21.70 sen in the previous year.
Revenue remained flat at RM22.3bil in FY24.
Axiata said XL Axiata, edotco, Robi Axiata Ltd and Smart delivered record profits for the group, despite market challenges.
Its shares added 2.44% yesterday to close at RM2.10.
