Axiata’s cash balance grew to MYR 6.8 billion in the first quarter of 2019, up from MYR 5.1 billion in 2018, following the M1 divestment which resulted in an estimated MYR 1.65 billion cash gain. Axiata agreed to sell its stake in Singapore operator M1 in the buy-out offer from shareholder Keppel.
First-quarter PATAMI jumped more than 100 percent to MYR 709 million, recovering from a loss of MYR 147 million in the first three months of 2018, delivering the group one of its best quarters in terms of headline profitability, Axiata said. This was mainly due to the stake in M1, which generated cash proceeds of MYR 1.65 billion and a one-off gain of MYR 113 million. Additionally, PATAMI for the first quarter of 2019 improved as a result of the transfer of Axiata’s non-core Digital Ventures to a fund manager at a valuation of USD 140 million, which registered a disposal gain of MYR 302 million.
Malaysia unit Celcom saw its revenue plunge 7.4 percent to MYR 1.7 billion. However, Celcom’s core mobile service revenue rose 2.3 percent year-on-year, boosted by a 7.1 percent growth in the postpaid segment. EBITDA was up 25 percent year-on-year. Celcom’s smartphone penetration rose by 5 percentage points year-on-year to 80 percent, while the number of data subscribers as percentage of total subscribers reached 77 percent compared to 71 percent a year ago, which contributed to the increase in total data usage by 57 percent. Celcom’s expanded its 4G population coverage to 93 percent, whilst 4G LTE-A coverage grew to 81 percent in March this year, compared to 88 percent and 76 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2018.
Indonesian unit XL returned to profitability in the first quarter of 2019, after three quarters of net losses. First-quarter profit after tax rose to IDR 57 billion compared to IDR 15 billion in the same quarter of 2018. XL service revenue grew by 12 percent, while its EBITDA jumped 14.8 percent, due to higher spend for prepaid SIM registration in the first three months of 2019. XL posted a 84 percent smartphone penetration and data revenue at 86 percent of service revenue in the quarter ended March. XL has 33,000 4G BTS covering 405 cities and areas across Indonesia.
Philippines unit Smart posted double-digit year-on-year growth in revenue, EBITDA and profit after tax. First-quarter data revenue jumped 33.7 percent year-on-year, as data accounted for 66 percent of Smart’s total revenue.
Sri Lanka’s Dialog saw its first-quarter revenue and EBITDA rise 11.2 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. Dialog recorded mobile revenue growth of 4.2 percent year-on-year, while its fixed home and TV business grew by 8.6 percent and 11.9 percent, respectively.
Bangladeshi unit Robi posted service revenue growth of 10.9 percent, boosted by increased usage of data services and lower marketing expense. EBITDA jumped 81.2 percent and profit after tax reached BDT 115 million compared to a loss of BDT 1.3 billion in the same quarter of 2018. Data revenue jumped 32.1 percent year-on-year, accounting for 28 percent of total revenue compared to 23 percent in March 2018.
Nepalese unit Ncell’s revenue fell 5.2 percent year-on-year, negatively affected by the Telecommunications Service Charge introduced by the government in July 2018 and a drop in international long-distance business. EBITDA margin was steady at 61 percent in the quarter.
Infrastructure unit Edotco’s revenue jumped 25 percent year-on-year to MYR 439 million in the first three months of 2019, while adjusted EBITDA jumped 46 percent ot MYR 244 million.
