Digi.com posts RM384m Q3 net profit, declares 4.9 sen dividend

PETALING JAYA: Digi.com Bhd reported a 12.3% drop in net profit to RM384.62 million for the third quarter (Q3) ended Sept 30, 2017 from RM438.38 million in the previous corresponding period, due to lower revenue as well as higher depreciation and amortisation.

Revenue fell 3.1% from RM1.62 billion to RM1.57 billion.

The group has proposed to declare an interim dividend of 4.9 sen per share equivalent to RM381 million for the quarter under review.

Digi told Bursa Malaysia that its prepaid revenue stabilised quarter on quarter (qoq) while postpaid revenue growth momentum continued with a 3.9% rise qoq, anchored by a stronger postpaid subscriber base of 2.4 million.

For Q3, postpaid average revenue per user (ARPU) stood at RM77 on the back of a larger postpaid subscriber base supported by sturdy demand for its new postpaid plans, while prepaid ARPU steadied at RM32, with higher contribution from prepaid internet revenue.

Digi said its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose to RM727 million while ebitda margin remained healthy at 46%.

“Operating cash flow margin strengthened to 37% with sequentially lower capex of RM152 million after accelerated network deployment activities in the first half of 2017.”

Digi invested an additional RM152 million in capex in Q3 to intensify LTE 900Mz sites deployment and nationwide network expansion for 4G LTE.

“We continued to take leadership position on LTE-A network with coverage expanding to 49% of population nationwide. Our 4G LTE network alongside with new LTE 900Mhz capabilities reached 87% of population to deliver better indoor 4G coverage.”

Digi highlighted that its capex ex-spectrum for the first nine months is managed efficiently at RM578 million or 13.1% of service revenue.

“We will continue to focus on operational efficiencies with the aim to deliver ebitda margin around 2016 level and capex within 11-13% to service revenue,” it said.

For the first nine months of the year, Digi’s net profit was down by 11.2% from RM1.26 billion to RM1.12 billion on the back of a 4.7% decline in revenue from RM4.93 billion to RM4.7 billion.

The stock rose six sen to close at RM4.89 yesterday on some 6.24 million shares done.