Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Axiata Group Bhd reported a 40% rise in third quarter net profit from a year earlier as the mobile telecommunication network provider earned higher revenue from operations abroad.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia today, Axiata said the weaker ringgit had led to higher revenue in ringgit terms when the company converted its overseas income into the Malaysian currency.

Axiata said net profit rose to RM891.39 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (3QFY15) from RM635.85 million a year ago. Revenue rose to RM5.07 billion from RM4.65 billion in 3QFY14.

Axiata said it registered higher revenue from its operating units in Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. Malaysian operations, however, recorded lower income.

"Malaysia's gross revenue decreased by 6.5% in Q3FY15 mainly due to decrease in voice and SMS revenue by 13.6% and 36.9% respectively, offset partly by higher data revenue," Axiata said.

Its net profit for the cumulative nine-month period (9MFY15) rose to RM2.09 billion from RM1.77 billion a year earlier. Revenue was higher at RM14.52 billion versus RM13.9 billion in 9MFY14.

Looking ahead, Axiata said its long-term focus included data leadership via pricing, smart investment and network-capacity utilisation.

The company said foreign exchange mitigation would also be crucial amid currency volatility.

"Among the key risks facing our operating companies include political risks, intense competition, foreign currency fluctuations and regulatory challenges," Axiata said.

At 12.30pm today, Axiata shares fell two sen or 0.3% to settle at RM6.14 for a market value of RM54.13 billion. The stock saw some three million shares done.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)

 

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