4G mobile operator, Maxis Berhad announced its Third Quarter (3Q21) financial results late last month. The self claimed Malaysia’s No.1 Network now has a mobile subscriber base of 11.65 million, down from 11.67 million subscriptions it had in 2Q21 (June 2021).
The Telecommunications service provider lost some 20,000 mobile subscriptions during July, August and September 2021.
There are 7.33 million Hotlink prepaid subscribers as of September 2021, down from 7.36 million subscriptions it had as of June 2021 (2Q21). It lost 26,000 prepaid subscriptions during 3Q21. It says that the prepaid subscriber base is lower due to “declining market size”.
Meanwhile there are 4.11 million postpaid subscriptions including SIM cards used in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, down from 4.13 million it had in 2Q21. It lost 26,000 postpaid subscriptions in 3Q21.
For ARPU in 3Q21, Hotlink Prepaid users spent an average RM31/month (unchanged since 2Q21), while Maxis Postpaid users spent RM75/month (unchanged since 2Q21).
Maxis has 210k wireless broadband subscribers, an increase (+32k) from 178k subscriptions in 2Q21.
Some 8.8 million Maxis mobile Internet users are consuming an average 24.97GB Internet data a month in 3Q21. This includes an average 23.72GB of data by Prepaid users and 25.59GB of Internet data by Postpaid users.
Approximately 2.9 million of its mobile subscriber base don’t use any Internet service from Maxis.
For Maxis Fibre, there are now 512k fibre broadband customers, up from 487k in 2Q21. ARPU for fibre is at RM108 (-RM1 from 2Q21).
When it comes to revenue generating subscriptions (RGS), Maxis has 10.19 million mobile subscriptions (+98k, 10.09 million in 2Q21) including 5,937 million prepaid (-5k, 5.942 million in 2Q21), 4.05 million postpaid (+73k, 3.98 million in 2Q21) and 197k (+30k, 167k in 2Q21) wireless broadband users.
Maxis revenue generating subscribers (RGS) are defined as active line subscriptions (postpaid and prepaid) that excludes those without revenue generating activities for more than 30 days.
Now calling its 4G network as a “premier network”, the Telco did not disclose its latest statistic of 4G LTE coverage. In 2Q21, Maxis had 93% 4G LTE human population coverage across Malaysia, based on a theoretical, lowest signal strength measurement.
Q3 financial highlights Year-on-Year – Q3 2021 vs Q3 2020, according to Maxis:
- Steady increase in service revenue, up 2.9% YoY at RM2,025 million, driven by strength in core mobile business, delivering growth across Postpaid and Fibre businesses and registering a resilient Prepaid performance.
- Normalised EBITDA grew by 1.7% YoY, driven by strong convergence strategy and continued focus on cost savings.
- Profit after tax (PAT) lower at RM325 million, attributable to additional investments in network and core capabilities which resulted in higher depreciation and amortisation costs.
- Strong Postpaid revenue recorded growth of 7.2% YoY to RM1,030 million due to increase in both Maxis and Hotlink Postpaid subscriber base on the back of higher demand for Maxis’ network and services. ARPU was healthy at RM81 per month.
- Prepaid business continued to be competitive. Despite an ongoing Prepaid to Postpaid subscriber migration, the segment saw resilient adoption of the attractive Hotlink Prepaid Unlimited package, maintaining a stable ARPU at RM39 per month. Revenue for the quarter eased 4.5% to RM685 million
- Total Fibre and Wireless Broadband subscriber base rose 32.8% YoY as demands for work, study and entertainment activities at home continued to increase. Total Broadband subscribers was at 709k at the end of the quarter, with Wireless Broadband subscribers up by 79.1% YoY to 197k. Double-digit growth was recorded in the Fibre segment, with a 21.7% YoY increase in revenue and 25k new connections for the quarter, on the back of higher adoption in Maxis Unlimited Postpaid & Fibre converged packages and higher speed plans.
- Solid Operating free cash flow (OFCF) at RM1,067 million, an increase by 37.0% YoY, mainly attributed to lower USP payments made in Q32021 as compared to Q32020, as well as the productivity and working capital programmes improving efficiency.
- A 4 sen interim dividend was declared for the quarter in light of Maxis’ sound cash management, productivity and collections initiatives delivering as planned in the “new pandemic normal”.
In a media announcement posted to Bursa Malaysia, Gökhan Ogut, CEO of Maxis said, “We are pleased to deliver another set of strong results and to continue our steady growth trajectory. Importantly, we will continue supporting all communities in Malaysia with greater access to devices, digital adoption for students and entrepreneurs as well as ongoing frontliner support and humanitarian efforts. All our initiatives during the quarter are driven by our brand purpose and our commitment to investing in the nation today and networks for growth tomorrow, so that the nation can always be ahead.”
