Tuesday June 1, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd, which posted a net profit of RM552mil, or 7.40 sen per share, for the three months ended March 31 from a net loss of RM42mil previously, is optimistic about its growth prospect and expects healthy growth in mobile subscriptions and data revenue.
In the notes accompanying its results, Maxis said it would continue to focus on stringent management of costs and working capital to underpin earnings and operating cash flow.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Maxis said its pre-tax profit rose to RM765mil from a net loss of RM17mil a year ago.
Revenue improved to RM2.15bil from RM1.8bil for the period under review, mainly due to higher mobile subscription base.
In a note, Maxis said the comparative numbers “did not represent a like for like” comparison of the operational performance of the group because of the accounting treatment adopted for the business combination by Maxis which was completed on Oct 1, 2009.
“The comparative represent that of Maxis Mobile Services Sdn Bhd’s mobile retail business and its 44% effective equity interest in PT Natrindo Telepon Seluler, the Indonesian mobile operations, as Maxis Mobile Services is the deemed acquirer for the purpose of accounting,” Maxis said, adding that it had provided proforma financial information in the notes accompanying its results.
Maxis’ EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) increased by RM10mil on the back of higher revenue partly offset by higher direct expenses of RM12mil on account of higher device expenses from sales of Blackberrys and iPhones.
The resultant EBITDA margin decreased to 50.3%. For the first quarter, Maxis’ mobile subscriptions grew 1.42 million or 13% contributed by prepaid growth of 1.2 million or 14%, postpaid growth of 56,000 and wireless broadband growth of 162,000, bringing the total mobile subscription base to 12.69 million.
Monthly average revenue per user (ARPU) for prepaid and wireless broadband dropped by RM5 and RM28 respectively, mainly due to erosion in voice yield as a result of migration to lower priced plans and introduction of lower priced tariff packages and promotional packages offering free 2-month subscription. Monthly postpaid ARPU remains flat during the current quarter. Its blended ARPU dropped RM4 to RM52 in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, chief executive officer Sandip Das said it would continue to fortify its leadership by providing more innovative new products and services to satisfy customer’s needs.
The company will invest RM1.4bil in the Maxis network including increasing its high speed wireless broadband coverage to 80% from 57% of the population and deploying new capabilities through its IT transformation. For the first quarter ended March 31, Maxis declared a first interim dividend of 8 sen per share, which will go ex on June 11 and paid on June 30.
“We are excited about the opportunities ahead and Maxis continues to be well positioned for the future.”
Analysts contacted were mixed on Maxis’ latest financial performance.
An analyst said Maxis’ results were largely within expectation. He said the consolidated subscribers showed an improvement of 3% quarter-on-quarter but its net adds for postpaid subscribers were disappointing.
“It’s flat against the preceding quarter and the ARPU on the other hand still headed south between 5% and 19%,” he added.
Another analyst said Maxis’ results were within his expectations and the telco also managed to maintained its EBITDA margins due to its ongoing cost-control measures. On its dividend, he expected Maxis to at least match the 9 sen per share in dividend declared in the fourth quarter but nevertheless the 8 sen dividend declared was within his expectations.
Last year, Maxis said that it planned to pay more than 75% of its annual profit as dividends.
Analysts consensus estimate of Maxis’ FY2010 net earnings is about RM2.4bil and a dividend per share forecast of 32.5 sen.
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/6/1/business/6376975&sec=business
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