Business

Friday August 31, 2012

Maxis pays dividends despite fall in H1 net profit

By NG BEI SHAN
beishan@thestar.com.my


KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd has declared a second interim dividend payout of 8 sen per share despite a 4.9% contract in net profit to RM1.04bil for the first half ended June 30.

The decline was due to asset write-off and resulting tax effects of RM94mil in the second quarter.

Excluding the write-off, its net profit would stand at RM1.11bil which is a 1.4% growth compared with RM1.09bil in the same period last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 2% year-on-year from RM2.2bil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2011 (FY11) to RM2.24bil in FY12.

Yesterday, it had also entered a significant partnership with its associate company, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd.

“We will be the exclusive IPTV service provider for Maxis home. We are delighted to secure the most popular television and video content from the leading consumer media entertainment (Astro) provider to further enrich the lives of our customers,” Maxis chairman YM Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda told a press conference yesterday.

To further provide integrated services for its customers, the telecommunication service provider has signed a strategic agreement with Astro to provide home and data services which would see a 10-year partnership with exclusivity for Astro to be its IPTV service provider for three years. Maxis would be the exclusive provider while Astro would be the exclusive content service provider.

Arshad said this was to cater to the change in the way consumers get their information.

“Details of the partnership will be announced next week,” Maxis chief executive officer Sandip Das told reporters after announcing the company's financial results yesterday.

Its revenue increased 3.6% to RM4.45bil year-on-year but decreased 0.6% quarter-on-quarter.

Revenue rose on the back of strong performance in its non-voice service which contributed 45.3% to its mobile revenue and stable average revenue per user for its voice products.

Dividend-wise, the total payout is RM600mil.

“We registered the highest prepaid net additions in five quarters on the strength of the new Hotlink plan launched in March, offering a wide range of globally contemporary data products and made definitive inroads into the migrant market with attractive international calling tariffs,” said Sandip.

He also said it was able to secure its market share in the migrant market and continued to grow in Sabah and Sarawak.

When asked if data would cannibalise its voice revenue, he said it would continue to improve its voice usage and did not see that as a threat.

Among its efforts, it has rejuvenated its “Maxis One Club” to provide privileges to retain its postpaid users.

He was also optimistic that the second half would be better as its effort in first half would bear fruits.

“We will continue to offer innovative products, bring demand for data and mobile Internet, make smartphones adoption affordable and provide exciting contents,” Sandip said.

While it would continue to improve its infrastructure, it would keep its capital expenditure below RM1bil as planned, he added.

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story
  • Bookmark and Share