KUALA LUMPUR (Yosefardi) – Axiata Group Berhad reported profit after tax and minority interests (PATAMI) was up 5% to RM645 million in second quarter of 2013.
On a year-to-date basis (YTD), comparing first half 2013 to first half 2012, revenue was up 5% to RM9.1 billion. At constant currency, excluding the impact of foreign currency movements, revenue would have been higher at 8%.
EBITDA dipped by 3% due mainly to data related costs at XL Axiata (EXCL). PATAMI in the period was up 2% at RM1.3 billion, mainly due to the lower contribution from XL and unfavourable foreign exchange.
The Group remained focused on strengthening its core business to deliver profitable revenue growth and managed to show healthy EBITDA growth despite significant investments in network.
Regional mobile subscribers for the Group saw strong growth of 12% year-on-year (YoY) to almost 230 million, driven by XL and Idea.
XL saw positive traction in revenue growth after three tough quarters. Revenue grew 5% QoQ and EBITDA by 6% in the same period. Similarly PAT was up by a robust 20% in the quarter. The quarter saw XL consolidate on its market positioning.
XL also regained its subscriber base in the quarter via a price optimisation strategy, which saw a 10% increase in subscribers QoQ.
On a YTD basis revenue saw growth of 1% despite declining voice and SMS revenue, driven by strong data traction with data revenue growth of 13% and non-voice now contributing 53% of total usage revenue.
XL continued to focus on data as the fastest growing segment with increased contribution to revenue. On a YTD basis, data revenue contributed 22% compared to 19% in the previous year. In addition, data traffic grew 88% with data subscribers now at 32 million or close to 59% of the total base.
To support the growing data demand, XL has invested in extensive data infrastructure to ensure superior data experience. The accelerated rollout of node Bs and investment in data infrastructure peaked in 2012. For 2013 XL will focus on capacity management, network optimisation and efforts to further increase network utilisation and data yields on capex spend to date.