Malaysian fixed line incumbent Telekom Malaysia™ has released its financial results for the three- and nine-month periods ended 30 September 2012, with the operator reporting what it noted was a record turnover in 9M 2012.
In the first nine months of 2012 TM said it had generated revenues totalling MYR7.184 billion (USD2.31 billion), up 7.2% compared to the same period of 2011, with the telco saying that the increase was the result of ‘improved performance [which] was achieved on the back of continued momentum across all key [areas]’. By comparison, turnover in 3Q12 stood at MYR2.375 billion, representing a 2.3% year-on-year increase. EBITDA for 9M12 rose by 1.8% compared to the year-ago period to reach MYR2.331 billion, an increase which the company said had been driven by the increased operating revenues in the period, while third quarter EBITDA amounted to MYR751.5 million, a 7.5% decline from the MYR812.5 million recorded in 3Q11. Group profit after tax and minority interest (PATAMI) surged by almost 52% in 9M12 to MYR900.5 million, with this rise attributed to higher revenues, coupled with the recognition of deferred tax income on unutilised tax incentives and higher unrealised foreign exchange gain on foreign currency borrowings. Net income in the third quarter of 2012, however, stood at MYR301.4 million, flat compared with the MYR302.2 million recorded for 3Q11.
In operational terms, at the end of September 2012 TM’s total broadband subscriber base, including customers signed up to both its xDSL and fibre-based services, stood at 2.028 million, up 8.4% compared with the same date a year earlier. Of that total, TM’s ‘UniFi’ fibre products accounted for 427,136, more than double the 164,000 it had on its books at end-September 2011. The company also issued an update on the progress of its fibre network rollout, revealing that the High Speed Broadband (HSBB) infrastructure now covers 1.32 million premises, with coverage having been extended to a total of 94 exchange areas covering the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia as well as East Malaysia.
Commenting on the results, Dato’ Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa, TM’s chief executive officer, noted: ‘We’re happy to note that TM continued to progress well financially and operationally with our performance being in line with our headline KPIs … We also reported an improvement in capital and cost efficiencies, with our CAPEX/revenue ratio reducing from 21.2% for year-to-date September 2011 to 19.8% this year. Cost as percentage of revenue also improved from 89.7% to 89.1%.’