Telekom Malaysia has reported what it called a ‘strong performance’ following the publication of its financial results for the third quarter of 2020, with the operator posting quarter-on-quarter increases in revenue, operating income and net profit.
For the three-month period ended 30 September 2020, Telekom Malaysia generated a total turnover of MYR2.69 billion (USD660 million), up from MYR2.59 billion in the preceding quarter, but down 5.7% from MYR2.85 billion in Q3 2019. EBITDA in 3Q20 totalled MYR1.04 billion, representing an increase from both the previous quarter (MYR962 million) and corresponding period of 2019 (MYR997 million). Meanwhile, operating profit increased by 4.9% year-on-year (and 8.0% quarter-on-quarter) to MYR456 million. Rounding out the operator’s key financial indicators, it posted a net profit of MYR329 million for 3Q20, up 26.1% y-o-y and almost 20% q-o-q.
In terms of operating highlights, Telekom Malaysia reported that its fixed broadband subscriber base had increased to 2.264 million by 30 September 2020, up from 2.159 million a year earlier. Of that total, 1.648 million were signed up to the company’s fibre-based unifi-branded service, up from 1.373 million at end-September 2019. By comparison, the number of users of its Streamyx-branded xDSL-based services continued to decline, falling to 616,000 at the end of the reporting period, from 786,000 in 3Q19. Meanwhile, the operator also highlighted the increasing number of customers which were taking multi-play services from it, with it confirming that 58% of its userbase were signed up to at least three services in 3Q20, up from 55% a year earlier.
Commenting on the company’s quarterly performance, Telekom Malaysia CEO Imri Mokhtar was cited as saying: ‘We are pleased to report another quarter of growth across all key financial metrics – revenue and profits – despite the challenging environment in Q3. Our efforts in cost optimisation continue to yield results with a healthy EBIT and a strong PATAMI.’