Maxis posts Rm1.38bil net profit in FY20
Performance driven by healthy growth in core businesses
PETALING JAYA: Maxis Bhd has posted a net profit of Rm319mil in its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 (Q4) and Rm1.38bil for its financial year 2020 (FY20), proving its resilience amid a challenging year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued yesterday, it said it closed 2020 with a resilient Q4 performance, registering stable service revenue and a healthy normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda), while maintaining a high Ebitda margin.
“Strengthening its leadership in converged solutions, the company’s Q4 performance was driven by healthy growth in its core mobile, enterprise and fibre businesses.
“Maxis continues to lead the postpaid segment, with another quarter of subscription growth. On the fibre front, the company is on a good momentum with steady growth in subscriptions from both families and businesses,” it said.
Maxis’ Q4 net profit was lower by 9.6% compared with Rm353mil a year ago while revenue fell 12.7% to Rm2.26bil from Rm2.59bil. Earnings per share was at 4.1 sen compared with 4.5 sen previously.
For FY20, its net profit was lower by 8.6% at Rm1.38bil compared with Rm1.51bil in FY19. Revenue dipped by 3.7% to Rm8.96bil from Rm9.31bil.
It has declared an interim dividend of four sen plus a special interim dividend of one sen net per share, which will go ex on March 12 while the entitlement date is on March 15.
Maxis said its performance for the quarter reflected its continued agility in mitigating the impact of Covid-19 and the various movement control order (MCO) phases, while keeping customers and businesses connected during these challenging times by maintaini─ ng a strong network infrastructure.
In a challenging year, Maxis was committed to supporting the nation’s health and economy with several key initiatives, starting with an industry-wide effort to provide the free 1GB per day offering so that people and businesses remained connected at home. Subsequently, the free 1GB was targeted for learning and work productivity.
Maxis said due to the pandemic, there was higher pressure on prepaid and roaming revenues as well as lower traffic to its retail points.
However, there was also stronger demand for connectivity as a result of work-from-home arrangements and accelerated digitalisation by enterprises. Data traffic continued to surge during the quarter.
On a blended basis, Maxis’ customers used an average of 20.75GB a month, an increase of 38.42% year-on-year.
During the quarter, Maxis invested Rm504mil in network capacity to support data traffic growth, as well as investment in fibre and enterprise growth, bringing total capex to Rm1.25bil for the year.
CEO Gokhan Ogut said the company’s agility in meeting the demands of this unique environment enabled it to continue progressing towards its convergence ambition.
“While we remain cautiously optimistic of the new norm for 2021, we will continue to develop more innovative solutions beyond mobile and create new opportunities for growth for businesses across industries,” he said.