By Goh Thean Eu
Published: 2010/07/21
DIGI.COM Bhd (6947), the country's third largest mobile operator, said second-quarter net profit rose 18.8 per cent, mainly helped by growth in its postpaid, mobile Internet and mobile broadband segments.
"Our postpaid growth is mainly driven by our attractive device plans, that have also benefited the sub-segments of postpaid including the enterprise segment.
"We have seen strong take-up not only on our iPhones, but also the BlackBerrys and Androids," chief executive officer Henrik Clausen told Business Times in a phone interview yesterday.
The company posted a net profit of RM278 million in the second quarter, against RM234 million in the same period last year, which was one of its weakest quarterly net profit since third quarter 2006.
Revenue grew by almost 11 per cent to RM1.34 billion during the quarter under review. The growth was mainly driven by its mobile postpaid business, which rose by 25 per cent to RM379 million. Its prepaid revenue grew by 8 per cent to RM947 million.
During the quarter, the company added 157,000 new customers, comprising 55,000 postpaid customers and 102,000 prepaid customers.
It also added about 45,000 mobile broadband customers, bringing the total customers to 122,000.
In general, analysts said the company's second-quarter results were within their expectations.
"There's no surprises, nothing spectacular," said Maybank Investment Bank analyst Mohd Khair Mirza when contacted yesterday.
DiGi believes that the industry will grow by about 5 per cent this year, and hopes to outgrow the industry this year. The group also hopes its cost-saving initiatives are able to reduce the impact of increased handset bundles, resulting in stable margins.
Meanwhile, DiGi has appointed Terje Borge as chief financial officer (CFO) from August 2. Borge, who was the CFO in DTAC of Thailand for the past three years, will replace Stefan Carlsson who is resigning.
On the launch of iPhone 4, DiGi said the company has began pre-orders for the iPhone 4 and is looking into packages that allow existing 3GS customers to upgrade their phones.
Clausen said the company remains committed to launch the phone to its customers before year-end and will ensure that iPhone 4 meets expectations before launching.
The new iPhone has come under heavy criticism lately, after users complains about losing reception when they held their phones in the lower-left corner. Apple Inc is currently working to fix the issue.
The latest model of iPhone carries a metal antenna that surrounds the outside of the device, a design chosen by Apple executives because it can help the device be lighter and thinner. However, it has also resulted in dropped or degraded calls.
To date, more than three million units of iPhone 4 has been sold.
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/digiq210/Article/
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