Maxis, Malaysia’s leading integrated telco, maintained its growth momentum for the third quarter ended 30 September 2024, with Service Revenue rising 3.2% year-on-year (YoY) to RM2,213 million. The Company’s focus on offering attractive value propositions through targeted customer segmentation contributed to stronger performance in both its Consumer and Enterprise businesses.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) strengthened by 12.8% YoY to RM1,048 million, while reported Profit After Tax (PAT) grew by 27.5% to RM366 million. Excluding a one-off adjustment related to cost optimisation in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, underlying PAT grew by 6.4% YoY. The improved underlying profitability was driven by both higher service revenue and prudent cost management. The Company declared an interim dividend of 4 sen per share.
Maxis’ Consumer Business recorded a 2.9% increase in service revenue YoY, with growth across its Mobile and Home Connectivity segments. Consumer Mobile, including postpaid and prepaid, recorded 2.1% revenue growth in tandem with steady subscriber growth of 3.8% YoY. Maxis continues to provide attractive value propositions tailored to different segments, including prepaid-to-postpaid migration offers and bespoke offerings relevant to customers’ life cycles. Maxis is also providing faster speeds and upgraded data quotas to meet customers’ growing data usage and has migrated all customers to 5G.
The Company’s Home segment registered an 8.7% increase in service revenue YoY, driven by growth in fibre broadband subscriptions. As a truly integrated telco, Maxis has been offering attractive broadband, mobile, and device bundles and deals to provide customers with even greater value. This includes its Zerolution smart device ownership programme, which makes it easier for customers to acquire a wide range of mobile and home devices for all their lifestyle needs.
Maxis’ Enterprise Business continued its growth momentum, delivering a 4.2% YoY increase in service revenue as the private and public sectors continue to digitalise. With anticipated growth around data centres, internet of things (IoT), cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, Maxis is committed to providing fast, secure, and reliable connectivity and connectivity-plus solutions to support Malaysia’s digital economy.
Goh Seow Eng, Chief Executive Officer of Maxis, said, “We are on course for a strong close to the year. Our focus on providing the best connectivity experience, enabled by network excellence and disciplined execution in each segment, remains unchanged. This is in line with our steadfast commitment to address customer needs through first-rate products and services.”
Q3 2024 financial highlights: Q3 2024 vs Q3 2023
Service Revenue increased by 3.2% to RM2,213 million, driven by Consumer and Enterprise business growth.
• Consumer Mobile revenue grew by 2.1% in tandem with steady subscriber growth of 3.8%, bringing total postpaid and prepaid subscribers to 9.56 million. The focus on segmentation and enhanced value propositions, including faster speeds and upgraded internet quotas, drove growth.
• Consumer Home Connectivity service revenue rose by 8.7% to RM251 million. Home connections reached 782,000, driven by continued expansion in fibre broadband customers.
• Enterprise service revenue grew by 4.2% to RM396 million from a segment-focused strategy to meet growing demand for connectivity and connectivity-plus solutions.
• EBITDA strengthened by 12.8% to RM1,048 million.
• PAT grew by 27.5% to RM366 million. Excluding a one-off adjustment related to cost optimisation in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, underlying PAT grew by 6.4% YoY. Improved underlying profitability was driven by both higher service revenue and prudent cost management.
• Capex of RM140 million was invested strategically during the quarter to future-proof targeted areas, including strengthening the transmission backbone, expanding the fibre footprint, and digitalising processes.
• Operating free cash flow declined to RM753 million due to higher tax payment, with a healthy cash balance of RM827 million.
Key Initiatives:
• Introduced Malaysia’s first all-in-one platform for 5G network, edge computing, cloud, and services orchestration in partnership with Singtel.
• Became the first telco in Malaysia to introduce GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS), enabling scalable high-performance computing and data processing on-demand, in partnership with Singtel.
• Announced a 5G-Advanced Joint Innovation Centre with Huawei to drive technology advancements and nurture local talent.
• Partnered with IJM Perennial and GlobalComm to provide mobile and fixed connectivity, as well as solutions powered by 5G-Advanced and IoT technology, for The Light City development in Penang.
• Launched Hotlink Uni Legends MLBB 2024, the Company’s first esports competition featuring Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB), designed especially for higher education institution students across Malaysia.