Maxis Berhad reported its Second Quarter (2Q19) financial results early this month. The Telecommunication provider now has 11.02 million mobile subscribers including some 1.13 million that is non-revenue generating for the company. It had 10.89 million mobile subscribers in 1Q19 adding 131k new subscriptions in the latest quarter.
Maxis revenue generating subscribers (RGS) are defined as active line subscriptions that excludes those without revenue generating activities for more than 30 days.
There are now 7.46 million Hotlink prepaid subscribers. Maxis added 19k new prepaid subscribers in the recent quarter however some 1.05 million prepaid subscribers of the total base are non-revenue generating subscribers (Non-RGS). Prepaid ARPU remains unchanged at RM35 since March 2019. Some 84% of the prepaid subscribers base are smartphone users. Between April, May and June 2019, prepaid users consumed an average 13.7GB data (vs 11.5GB in 1Q19).
Some 3.44 million are Maxis postpaid subscribers including 82k non-revenue generating subscriptions (Non-RGS). Postpaid APRU dropped to RM86 (-RM2) despite Maxis added 117k new postpaid subscriptions between April, May and June 2019. Postpaid users consumed an average data of 13.3GB in 2Q19 (vs 12.2GB in 1Q19). 88% of the postpaid subscriber base are smartphone users.
Maxis mobile Internet users remains unchanged at 8.4 million since December 2018. Wireless Broadband subscribers are now lower at 115k, down from 120k in March 2019.
There are now 276k Home Fibre broadband subscriptions, up 25k from 251k subscriptions it had in 1Q19.
Maxis said it continues to offer “Superior 4G LTE Experience” with super fast speeds of over 5Mbps in key market centres representing 90% of its coverage and over 3Mbps speeds in 96% of its 4G LTE coverage areas. This also means that 4% of its 4G LTE coverage areas offers super slow speeds below 3Mbps.
Its 4G LTE human population coverage remains unchanged for the past 6-7 months at 93%. Maxis claims to have 9,000 coverage sites nationwide.
As for the My Maxis mobile app, it is used by only 43% of the postpaid base and 59% of prepaid base.
Key highlights in Q2 2019 according to Maxis:
- Backed by resilient core performance, (excluding wholesale revenue), service revenue was up 0.6% to RM1,887 million from RM1,876 million. Overall service revenue, including wholesale, stood at RM1,918 million, 1.5% lower from RM1,947 million in Q1 2019.
- Healthy normalised EBITDA at RM947 million, with a slight dip of 0.6% from RM953 million in Q1 2019. Normalised EBITDA margin on service revenue remained high at 49.4% against 48.9%.
- Normalised profit after tax was RM391 million, trimmed 3.2% from RM404 million in Q1 2019.
- Operating free cash flow increased to RM1,021 million from RM565 million in Q1 2019 as a result of lower payments in the current quarter as well as the productivity and working capital programmes capturing results.
- Continued investment in network capacity to support planned data traffic growth, including Home Fibre and Enterprise growth. Capex for the current quarter was RM267 million.
- Declared a second interim dividend of 5 sen net per share.
In a media statement posted to Bursa Malaysia, Maxis CEO Gökhan Ogut said, “We are making very good progress in executing our five year growth plan to be Malaysia’s leading converged communications and digital services company, while maintaining our leadership in our core mobile business. This quarter saw us making headway in our converged ambitions with the launch of new fibre speeds, delivering smart solutions for enterprises and championing Industry 4.0 initiatives in line with the government’s digital economy agenda. The potential of 5G in a future of smart solutions is tremendous. To this end, our 5G live trials are progressing well. We continue to be at the forefront of introducing new technologies to Malaysia. Overall, we will stay focused on our priorities – offering customised solutions and services for individuals, homes and businesses and achieving a differentiated and unmatched personalised experience through our digital capabilities and technology innovation.”
