Axiata Group achieves $18M net profit in first quarter

MALAYSIA’S Axiata Group Bhd has recorded a net profit of 75.56 million ringgit ($18.2 million) for the first quarter ended March 31, which was a 59.83 per cent reduction year-on-year.

This was mainly due to higher depreciation and amortisation and lower one-off gain.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Axiata said mobile operating companies in Malaysia and Bangladesh had recorded accelerated depreciation of 3G assets amounting to 171.6 million ringgit, as opposed to the first quarter of 2020 when Indonesia recognised a one-off gain from sale and leaseback of telecommunication towers of 420.3 million ringgit.

The group’s revenue for the quarter was 6.06 billion ringgit, a slight increase of 0.45 per cent year-on-year.

Chairman Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid said the board was heartened to note the steady performance delivered across the group since the start of the pandemic in March last year.

“The region continues to grapple with multi-faceted challenges as each country battles to mitigate blows from the protracted Covid-19 crisis.

“Despite this, we press on towards the realisation of our ambition to become The Next Generation Digital Champion by 2024.

“The board will place strict emphasis in ensuring the relentless execution of the Axiata 5.0 vision, which will keep us steady in these uncertain times,” he said in a statement.