Digi, Maxis net profits improve in Q3

PETALING JAYA: Digi.Com Bhd and Maxis Bhd both saw improved profits for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 despite marginal falls in revenue.

Digi’s net profit for Q3 rose 10.53% to RM438.38 million from RM396.62 million a year ago.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said its revenue for the quarter fell 3.32% to RM1.62 billion from RM1.67 billion a year ago while service revenue fell 1.9% to RM1.55 billion from RM1.58 billion a year ago.

Maxis reported a 19.76% increase in its net profit for Q3 to RM503 million from RM420 million a year ago while revenue fell marginally to RM2.16 billion from RM2.17 billion a year ago.

“This was a very busy quarter for us as competition remained intense. We continued to remain resilient in the quarter, benefiting from a well-managed cost structure and delivering steady performance with earnings growth anchored by stronger internet and digital services momentum in particular from our expanded postpaid share,” Digi CEO Albern Murty said in a statement yesterday.

Digi saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rise 7.8% to RM775 million in Q3 from RM719 million a year ago while ebitda margin improved to 48% from 43% a year ago.

Maxis saw ebitda rise 2.5% to RM1.14 billion from RM1.11 billion a year ago, even as service revenue fell 1.9% to RM2.11 billion from RM2.15 billion a year ago during the quarter.

Blended average revenue per user (Arpu) fell to RM41 from RM45 a year ago for Digi, as total subscriber base rose to 12.25 million from 11.68 million a year ago.

While Maxis did not provide blended Arpu numbers for the quarter, instead focusing on blended Arpu for the nine-month period, which rose to RM55 from RM52 a year ago while total subscriber base fell to 10.90 million from 11.96 million a year ago.

Digi’s net profit for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2016, however fell 6.13% to RM1.26 billion from RM1.34 billion a year ago as revenue fell 5.04% to RM4.93 billion from RM5.19 billion a year ago.

Meanwhile, Maxis’ nine-months net profit rose 18.73% to RM1.51 billion from RM1.27 billion a year ago, while revenue fell marginally to RM6.40 billion from RM6.43 billion a year ago.

Maxis declared a third interim single-tier dividend of 5 sen per share, payable on Dec 29, 2016. The total dividends for the nine-month period is 15 sen per share.