Maxis Berhad (Maxis), on last week announced its first-quarter financial results for the financial year 2013 ended March 31 (FY13).
For the quarter under review, Maxis said it registered a PAT(Profit After Tax) of RM476 million, impacted by acceleration of depreciation of network equipment amounting to RM60 million resulting in a 16.9% reduction from RM573 million recorded last year. On a normalised basis, excluding these one-off items, PAT was RM521 million against RM557 million a year ago. The company recorded an EBITDA(Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) of RM1,122 million with an EBITDA Margin of 48.2%, the highest in the industry.
Maxis declared a first interim dividend of 8.0 sen per share amounting to RM600 million.
The mobile operator currently has 14,136 million customers including some 3,356 million postpaid and 10,780 million prepaid customers. ARPU(Average revenue per user) currently stands at RM103 for Postpaid, RM35 for Prepaid and RM65 for Wireless Broadband services. Blended ARPU is at RM50.
There are 628,000 wireless broadband subscriptions as of Q1 2013 including some 54,000 Fixed Wireless Broadband users. As for Home subscriptions/Fibre users, Maxis currently has some 30,700 customers.
In terms of network investment, Maxis invested RM191 million in capex in Q1 2013. Since the launch of its high-speed 4G LTE network on 1 January 2013, the mobile operator said that it has successfully expanded its 4G LTE footprint, allowing approximately 100,000 customers to enjoy superfast internet from Maxis.
The operator said that it increased its 3G HSPA+ sites to 5,346 sites; of which 3,922 are capable of up to 42MBps. Maxis has approximately 5,000 3G sites nationwide.
“Our infrastructure modernisation programme has progressed well in Quarter 1 with LTE networks roll-out on target. We expect to increase 4G LTE coverage to more areas in the Klang Valley as well as Penang and Johor Bahru by the second quarter of 2013. With LTE, we have a strong suite of data spectrum, catering to the growing needs of the customers and providing them with the best digital services. Maxis already introduced for the first time 4G LTE smartphones including Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC One XL in Q1 2013, followed by Apple devices in April 2013. We will grow the eco-system with more 4G smart devices, exciting content and services for an even richer digital experience for customers,” explained YM Raja Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Arshad Raja Tun Uda, Chairman of Maxis.
“Our focus for 2013 is to continue building on our leadership in the data business, put our customers first in everything we do and be the most efficient company. We will drive growth in our core business while investing in future digital services with continued investment in our infrastructure to meet ever growing customer demand for data access and higher speeds. As Malaysia’s only integrated communications service provider, we are well placed to offer integrated offerings to families, communities and businesses. Leveraging on our successful track record in seeding the market with smart devices, we want to broaden the base of data users. We will also continue our efforts to grow market share and revenues in the East Coast, Sabah, Sarawak, the migrant and tourist segments,” concluded Raja Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Arshad.
Maxis’ shareholders approved all the resolutions proposed at the company’s fourth Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held last week. On the dividend pay-out in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2012, the shareholders approved a single-tier tax-exempt final dividend of 8.0 sen per ordinary share. The four interim dividends paid and the approved final dividend will bring the total dividend for 2012 to 40 sen per share. With that, Maxis has successfully delivered a total of RM3.0 billion in cumulative dividends for the year 2012. This represents a dividend yield of 6.0% based on the closing price of RM6.65 as at end of 2012.
