Maxis Q2 profit hits RM532m

The quarterly net profit fell 10 per cent, mainly because of a one-off spending in its Fifa 2010 World Cup campaign and handset subsidies.


Maxis Bhd (6012), the country's largest mobile operator, registered a 10 per cent decline in its second quarter net profit, due mainly to a one-off spending in its Fifa 2010 World Cup campaign and handset subsidies.

It also announced a second interim dividend of 8 sen a share, or RM600 million in total, which is more than the company's net profit in the second quarter.

Maxis, controlled by tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan, posted a net profit of RM532 million for the quarter ended June 30 2010, against RM594 million in same quarter last year.

During the quarter, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margin fell to 46.9 per cent, from 50.6 per cent in the entire 2009.
However, chief executive officer Sandip Das was not worried as he said the steep decline in the margin was mainly driven by its World Cup sponsorship, which was a one-off event. Moving forward, he expects an uptake in the company's operating margin.

"Overall, I am very happy with the results. We posted a strong, all-rounder performance," said Sandip in a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Maxis' quarterly revenue rose by more than 3 per cent to RM2.19 billion, from RM2.12 billion in the same period last year, due largely to its larger customer base in both voice and broadband segments.

For the quarter, the company added 280,000 new customers, against Celcom (Axiata) Bhd's and DiGi.Com Bhd's net additions of 215,000 and 157,000 respectively.

Although the company is still in second place in terms of mobile operators' overall broadband market share, Sandip remains confident that the broadband momentum is going strong and it is just a matter of time before it overtakes Celcom in the segment.

During the quarter, Maxis signed up 135,000 new mobile broadband customers to reach 448,000 customers. During the period, Celcom signed up just 72,000 mobile broadband customers to 707,000.

"We have a 53 per cent share of the broadband net adds share (among the top three mobile operators) during the quarter. It further signifies that our efforts in modernising the network and marketing are showing results," said Sandip.

The company also added that its mobile broadband growth story is on track and believes that by end-2012, half of its revenue will come from non-voice services.

Maxis' average revenue per user (Arpu), has remained stable. Its prepaid Arpu declined by about 2 per cent to RM36, while postpaid Arpu increased by 1 per cent to RM103.

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