KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Maxis Bhd net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (2QFY18) fell 16.43% to RM478 million, from RM572 million a year earlier, due mainly to higher depreciation expense.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said its revenue stayed steady at RM2.25 billion, versus RM2.34 billion the prior year.

Maxis declared an interim dividend of 5 sen per share to be paid on Sept 27, 2018.

For the six months ended June 30, Maxis posted net profit RM1 billion versus RM1,07 billion on revenue RM4.48 billion against RM4.71 billion a year earlier.

Reviewing its performance, Maxis said postpaid revenue grew 2.4% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM1.01 billion, from RM985 million last quarter, maintaining its strong leadership in this segment with a stable ARPU of RM94.

The steady growth of its subscription base stemmed from growth in shared lines, as it continued to innovate so as to create value within family mobile plans, the filing added.

Maxis said its flagship MaxisONE Plan continued to attract customers with innovative device offerings, adding 67,000 new subscribers in Q2.

Despite overall softening of the market, intense price competition, SIM consolidation and migration to postpaid, prepaid revenue stabilised with a 0.6% growth to RM854 million q-o-q, with a slowing decline in subscriber base, the company said.

This was due to well-executed marketing initiatives and effective use of data analytics, leading to solid Mobile Internet (MI) revenue growth, it explained.

Maxis said prepaid ARPU meanwhile, remains stable at RM42 per month.

Maxis chief executive officer Robert Nason said the group’s strong commitment and ambition to provide innovative, quality products and experiences, have delivered steady results for 2QFY18.

“We are happy that we are seeing strong growth in postpaid and good progress in the recovery of our prepaid business.

“We will continue to focus on operational efficiencies and invest in sustaining a superior network. All in all, we feel upbeat about what’s in store for our customers, as we create more quality digital experiences for them,” Nason added.