TM EXPECTS HIGHER PROFIT THIS YEAR
Performance to be driven by cost optimisation and management, says Imri
TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd (TM) expects a better profit but lower revenue this year amid persistent market challenges. Acting group chief executive officer and chief operating officer Imri Mokhtar said the group took a hit last year, with revenue dropping 2.2 per cent to RM11.82 billion from RM12.08 billion in 2017.
It continued to be impacted by lower revenue from voice, data and non-telecommunication-related services.
“TM expects the environment to remain challenging. TM will accelerate convergence and empower digitalisation in line with our transformation that reinforces customer-centricity,” he said, here, yesterday.
Imri said the group was expecting a higher net profit this year, to be driven by cost optimisation and management.
TM is setting aside a capital expenditure of between 18 and 20 per cent of revenue this year.
Net profit dropped 74.9 per cent to RM69.66 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018 from RM277.01 million in the same period previously.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, it said the decrease was due to higher finance cost and lower foreign exchange gain on borrowings as well as tax charges.
Revenue in the quarter under review decreased 3.5 per cent to RM3.09 billion from RM3.19 billion previously. For the full-year, net profit plunged 83.5 per cent to RM153.15 million from RM929.75 million previously.