Malaysian telecoms group Axiata has published its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2014, with revenues flat against the previous quarter in part due to the strengthening of the Malaysian ringgit against the Indonesian rupee.
In the first three months of 2014 Axiata generated a total turnover of MYR4.515 billion (USD1.37 billion), up 0.1% quarter-on-quarter and 0.7% year-on-year, though Axiata noted that at constant currency rates the annual y-o-y increase would have been 4.1%. In 1Q14 three of the group’s subsidiaries posted revenue growth, those being Sri Lanka’s Dialog Axiata (up 11.2% y-o-y to MYR370 million), Bangladesh unit Robi Axiata (up 17.7% to MYR421 million) and Cambodian operator Smart Axiata (up 88.1% at MYR70 million). The group’s domestic subsidiary Cellcom meanwhile registered a 3.8% drop in turnover against 1Q13 (to MYR1.979 billion), with Indonesia’s XL Axiata generating MYR1.597 million in revenues in 1Q14, representing a 3.7% drop against the same period a year earlier. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) meanwhile stood at MYR1.789 billion in 1Q14, up 0.5% year-on-year, while profit after tax and minority interests (PATAMI) was MYR675 million in the period under review, up 9.8% y-o-y.
In operational terms, at the end of March 2014 Axiata had a total of 258.3 million mobile subscribers on its books, up from 219.0 million a year earlier. India’s Idea led the way in terms of gains, adding 7.1 million new customers in the first three months of 2014 to bring its total to 135.8 million, while XL’s subscriber base increased by eight million to 68.5 million. Only Robi registered a drop in customers in 1Q14, losing 1.4 million to reduce its total to 23.9 million.