Maxis Berhad reported its quarter four 2015 (4Q15) financial results last week. The Telco now has a total of 11.6 million subscribers (11,579) a drop from 12 million (11,956) in 3Q15. It lost 377k revenue generating subscribers in Q4. Maxis used to have 12.2 million subscribers in Q215.
There are 8.5 million revenue generating prepaid subscribers (8,520), a drop from 8.9 million in 3Q15. Prepaid ARPU is at RM39. Maxis said that the lower “subscription base impacted by high rotational churn and price-focused competition”.
As for postpaid, Maxis lost some 19k postpaid subscribers in the quarter, currently at 2.8 million. ARPU is now higher at RM102 compared to RM98 in 3Q15. Maxis says that its postpaid subscription was “impacted by price-focused competition”.
MaxisONE postpaid plan “continued with strong adoption”, adding some 109k subscribers in Q4. There are now 623k MaxisONE plan subscribers with a stable APRU of about RM150/month.
Maxis has 8.8 million mobile Internet users in 4Q15, down from 9 million in 3Q15. It has 118k Maxis Fibre (Home Connections) customers.
There are more than 2.8 million 4G LTE devices in the network. Smartphone users in the network include 76% of postpaid accounts and 67% prepaid.
Maxis claims it has the widest 4G LTE network in the country, currently at 71% nationwide, measured at a minimum -98dBm. The Telco also claims that its 4G LTE network offers an average speed of 20Mbps outdoor and 10Mbps indoor however no 3rd party reference were provided.
The current Maxis network coverage (statistic) are as below:
- 4G LTE: 71%
- 3G: 92% (from 91% in Q315)
- 2G: 96% (from 95% in Q315)
- 2G & 3G Network Modernisation: 88%
In the quarter, service revenue for Q4 2015 grew 0.1% from Q3 2015 to RM2,160 million. Maxis registered an Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) of RM1,121 million and a service revenue EBITDA margin of 51.8% against RM1,111 million and 51.6 % in 3Q15. Normalised Profit After Tax (PAT) for the quarter dropped -6.5% to RM477 million against RM510 million recorded in the preceding quarter.
According to Maxis, Year-on-year (yoy):
- Service revenue grew 3.8% to RM8,539 million from RM8,229 million a year ago, driven by solid prepaid and improved core postpaid performance
- Solid prepaid revenue growth; up 6.2% yoy to RM4,184 million from RM3,940 million on the back of rising data usage and bigger share in the migrant segment
- Core postpaid revenue grew 2.7% to RM3,657 million from RM3,560 million – strong adoption of MaxisONE plan continued with 623k customers on board, resulting in stable ARPU and making postpaid revenue relatively insensitive to the decline in voice and SMS
- Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) grew 4.1% to RM4,425 million from RM4,251 million, excluding unrealised foreign exchange (forex) impact
- Profit After Tax (PAT) grew to RM1,960 million from RM1,943 million, after adjusting for accelerated depreciation due to network modernisation as well as unrealised forex losses and reversal of contract obligation
- Declared a fourth interim dividend of five sen per share, bringing full year pay-out to 20 sen per share
Morten Lundal, Chief Executive Officer, Maxis Berhad said in a media statement, “2015 was a winning year for us. We grew both in revenues and profits, year on year, and won market shares. Our modernised network now covers nearly 90% of population while our 4G LTE network has more than doubled to 71% of population coverage, making us the leader with the fastest and widest in the country.”
“All in all, our intense focus on unmatched customer experience and to provide the best network for data is rewarded with happier customers. We have the highest customer satisfaction we have ever seen in various channels and our customer complaint level is now at its lowest in a decade. These are indeed proud achievements for us. The first phase of our transformation of becoming a high performing mobile company is more or less done. Now we have a strong foundation to push ahead with the second phase of our transformation of becoming the preferred choice for digital experience seekers. I am truly positive to what lies ahead of us and the increased empowerment we could offer individuals, homes and organisations.” he said.
