Malaysian fixed line incumbent Telekom Malaysia™ has revealed that in the first six months of 2011 group profit after tax and minority interests (PATAMI) fell by 20.9% year-on-year to MYR290.5 million (USD97.63 million)on the back of higher operating costs and lower foreign exchange gains from borrowings. The operator recorded a MYR180.5 million forex loss in the six month period, pointing to the continued strengthening of the Malaysian ringgit against the US dollar. Turnover for the first half of 2011, however, improved against the same period a year earlier, with TM reporting revenues of MYR4.38 billion, representing y-o-y growth of 2.5%. The operator pointed to increased turnover from data and internet services as the main growth drivers, and for H1 2011 it reported that data and internet revenues had climbed to MYR486 million (up from MYR428 million) and MYR933 million (MYR799 million) respectively. Turnover from fixed voice accesses continued to decline and in the first half of 2011 fell to MYR1.55 billion, down 2.5% against the same period in 2010. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) meanwhile stood at MYR1.48 billion in 1H11, up 5.1% y-o-y.
In operational terms, at the end of June 2011 TM reported that the number of customers signed up to its ‘Streamyx’ broadband services had risen to 1.721 million, up from 1.541 million a year earlier. Subscribers taking up the telco’s High Speed Broadband (HSBB) services, which are offered under the ‘UniFi’ banner stood at just over 100,000. Fixed line voice customer numbers continued to decline, and at the end of 1H11 totalled 4.288 million, down from 4.333 million a year earlier.
TM-rival TIME dotCom meanwhile has revealed a 23.3% y-o-y increase in net profit for the six months ended 30 June 2011, with the operator posting PATAMI of MYR51.48 million, up from MYR41.75 million, partly attributed to a reduction in fee payments and higher dividend income. Operating revenue for the telco in the first half of the year was MYR153.71 million, up 3.7% against the same period a year earlier.