Telekom Malaysia has reported an 8% year-on-year drop in group revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2020, to MYR2.56 billion (USD588 million), citing ‘lower revenue contribution from all lines of products’ as the reason. In terms of revenue by product, TM generated MYR544 million in the fixed voice sector, representing a more than 19% drop on an annualised basis, attributed to a reduced customer base and lower levels of traffic. Meanwhile, internet revenues declined by 4.2% y-o-y, to MYR936 million, with TM pointing to a decline in the number of xDSL customers as a contributory factor.
With regards to other key financial indicators, TM said that the reduction in revenue had led to EBITDA declining to MYR326 million, a more than 35% y-o-y drop from the MYR505 million reported for 1Q19. Consequently, reported profit after tax and non-controlling interests (PATAMI) was reported at MYR153 million for 1Q20, less than half of the MYR308 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. Meanwhile, TM’s core net profit, or normalised PATAMI (which excludes non-operational items, including an MYR80.1 million unrealised foreign exchange translation loss on borrowings), stood at RM240.8 million, down 18.8% compared with 1Q19. Total capital expenditure by TM in the opening three months of 2020 stood at MYR262.3 million, of which 68% was spent on ‘Access’, with 19% and 13% spent on ‘Core Network’ and ‘Support System’, respectively.
In operational terms, TM reported a fixed broadband subscriber totalling 2.184 million as at 31 March 2020, down from 2.195 million a year earlier. Of that figure, 1.490 million were signed up to the telco’s fibre-based ‘unifi’ branded service, up from 1.323 million a year earlier, while xDSL-based ‘Streamyx’ subscriber numbers declined to 694,000, from 872,000 in 1Q19.