Malaysian telecoms group Axiata has released its financial results for the three months ended 30 September 2010, posting a 27% year-on-year increase in net profit for the period, attributing the rise to increased profitability from operational improvements and cost management. For its third fiscal quarter of 2010 Axiata reported a net profit of MYR639.1 million (USD204 million), up from MYR503.7 million a year earlier, while group revenues rose by 15% y-o-y to MYR3.94 billion and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) surged 33% against 3Q09 to MYR1.83 billion.
Domestically the group’s mobile unit, Celcom, reported a 7% annual increase in revenues, rising to MYR1.72 billion for the quarter, despite lower interconnection rates, which it said had been offset by higher usage during local festival periods. The company said that the reduced mobile termination rates (MTRs) impacted Celcom’s third quarter revenue by around MYR34 million. The mobile operator remains the largest contributor to group revenue, accounting for 44% of total turnover, although this was down against 48% in the same period a year earlier. Indonesia’s XL meanwhile was responsible for 39% of group revenue (up from 34% a year earlier), while Dialog (Sri Lanka) and Robi (Bangladesh) both accounted for 8% of the total.
At end-September 2010 Axiata’s total subscriber base stood at 148.8 million, up by more than 40 million against the same date in 2009, with all of the group’s units reporting customer growth over the period.
Commenting on the results Dato’ Sri Jamaludin Ibrahim, president and chief executive officer of Axiata, said: ‘We are very pleased to see Axiata continuing its positive momentum, posting double digit growth in all financial metrics. Our operating companies have performed strongly, with Celcom and XL leading in the data space, Dialog consolidating its turnaround and Robi continuing strongly in its growth trajectory.’