Maxis registers RM478 million net profit in 2Q

KOTA KINABALU: Maxis Bhd registered a lower net profit of RM478 million, on the back of higher depreciation expenses, for the second quarter (2Q) ended June 30, 2018, compared with RM572 million in the same quarter last year.

Revenue stood at RM2.24 billion versus RM2.33 billion previously.

“We are happy that we are seeing strong growth in postpaid and good progress in the recovery of our prepaid business,” chief executive officer Robert Nason said in a statement yesterday.

He said Maxis would continue to focus on operational efficiencies and invest to sustain a superior network.

“All in all, we feel upbeat about what’s in store for our customers as we create more quality digital experiences for them,” Nason said.

For the first half of 2018, net profit was RM1.0 billion compared with RM1.07 billion in the same corresponding period last year, while revenue was RM4.48 billion as against RM4.71 billion for the first half of 2017.

Service revenue grew by 1.7 per cent to RM2 billion from RM1.98 billion last quarter, driven by strong growth momentum in postpaid as the telecommunications company continued to innovate family-centric propositions.

The home fibre segment recorded continued strong growth with a 5.4 per cent revenue increase in the quarter.

“Despite overall softening of the market, intense price competition, SIM consolidation and migration to postpaid, prepaid revenue stabilised with a 0.6 per cent growth to RM854 million quarter-on-quarter, with a slowing decline in subscriber base,” Nason said.

He attributed the prepaid segment’s good performance to wellexecuted marketing initiatives and effective use of data analytics which led to solid mobile internet revenue growth.

Prepaid average revenue per user, meanwhile, remained stable at RM42 per month.

“We maintained our network leadership, with the fastest 4G LTE network in the country covering 92 per cent of the population,” he added.