Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 29): Maxis Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 (3QFY21) fell 10.7% to RM325 million or 4.2 sen per share, compared with RM364 million or 4.7 sen per share for the previous corresponding quarter, on higher depreciation and amortisation charges despite an increase in revenue.

In its latest financial announcement, the telco again cautioned that the Covid-19 pandemic continued to raise concern.

It said the pandemic had created an unpredictable environment in 2021 and beyond. 

Maxis’ quarterly revenue grew by 2.26% to RM2.26 million from RM2.21 million on higher service revenue, according to a bourse filing on Friday (Oct 29).

The telco declared a third interim dividend of four sen per share, which will be paid on Dec 30, 2021.

The group’s service revenue went up nearly 3% to RM2.02 billion against RM1.97 billion on the back of better contributions from the post-paid and fibre businesses.

Normalised earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation increased to RM984 million from RM968 million a year ago, driven by its strong convergence strategy and continued focus on cost savings.

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2021 (9MFY21), the group’s net profit dropped 4.14% to RM1.02 billion from RM1.06 billion. Revenue for 9MFY21 was nearly flat at RM6.75 billion versus RM6.7 billion a year earlier.

The telco’s capital expenditure for the quarter stood at RM274 million, with investments focused on network quality and performance to support increasing data traffic.

“On a blended basis, data usage was at an average of 25GB a month, an increase of 28.1% year-on-year,” said Maxis in a statement.

Maxis chief executive officer Gokhan Ogut commented: “We are pleased to deliver another set of strong results and 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 were 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,” he added.

On prospects, Maxis said the Covid-19 pandemic continued to raise concern and it remains hard to reliably predict the ongoing impact it will have on demand for the services and solutions provided by the group locally and internationally.

“This creates an unpredictable environment for our business in 2021 and beyond. Given these uncertainties, the group considers it prudent not to disclose a financial outlook for FY21,” said Maxis, adding that the group is closely monitoring and assessing the impact of Covid-19.

At Friday’s noon break, Maxis' share price had gained one sen to RM4.71, giving it a market capitalisation of RM36.86 billion.

Edited ByKathy Fong
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