Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 22): Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM)'s fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 (4QFY16) saw its net profit fall nearly 20% to RM154.3 million or 4.11 sen per share from RM192.4 million or 5.12 sen per share a year ago.

The fall was primarily due to foreign exchange (forex) losses from group borrowings arising from the weakening ringgit against the US dollar despite the recognition of investment tax allowances granted and recognised in the period.

Revenue for the quarter rose to RM3.24 billion from RM3.18 billion in 4QFY15 because of higher revenue from Internet and multimedia, and non-telecommunication related services, partially offset by reduction in voice, data and other telecommunications related services, TM said in a bourse filing today.

A second interim single-tier 12.2 sen dividend was declared for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 (FY16), which will be paid on March 24. The ex-date is on March 7 and the entitlement date falls on March 9.

For FY16, net profit grew 10.8% to RM776 million or 20.65 sen per share from RM700.3 million or 18.72 sen per share due to lower forex losses on borrowings in the year net of non-controlling interest's share of subsidiaries' losses.

Its FY16 revenue came in 2.9% higher at RM12.1 billion versus RM11.7 billion in the preceding year.

In a separate statement, TM said it set its FY17 and medium-term target for revenue growth, as part of its headline key performance index (KPI), at 3.5% to 4%.

For FY17 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), it plans to maintain the same as FY16's but set 3.5% to 4% growth as its medium-term target, while customer satisfaction measurement target is set at 73.

In FY16, it achieved 4.1% revenue growth, which was above its 3% to 3.5% target, while EBIT growth grew to 22.9%. Customer satisfaction measurement was more than 72.

"The group met all its headline KPIs for 2016. Performance was mainly driven by non-voice services, which now collectively represent 72% of group revenue," it said.

In a statement, TM group chief executive officer Tan Sri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said the broadband customer base remained strong, led by UniFi, with a wider high-speed broadband footprint of 2.23 million ports nationwide and overall take-up rate of 42.6%.

As at Dec 31, 2016, TM recorded a total broadband customer base of more than 2.37 million customers.

"On our outlook and business priorities in the coming year, we will continue to leverage on the strategic investments we had made to realise our 'convergence' and 'Go Digital' aspirations as we move beyond connectivity into quad play, and new value-added digital and smart services," he said.

TM will accelerate its transformation plans and work on introducing package upgrade offerings, bringing the cost per Mbps down, enabling customers to enjoy higher broadband speeds at more competitive prices.

The group also foresees potential for new growth opportunities in its business solutions segment by shifting towards selling converged customer solutions that meet the specific needs of its prioritised verticals.

TM will also focus on monetising its investments in VADS' Twin Core Data Centres, in Iskandar Putri, Johor, which would be operational this year and later in Cyberjaya

Moving forward, despite the current challenging times, TM foresees 2017 to be a promising year.

At 3.24pm, TM slipped four sen or 0.65% to RM6.13 with 3.6 million shares done for a market capitalisation of RM23.04 billion.

 

 

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