Maxis chief executive officer Goh Seow Eng.
PETALING JAYA: Maxis Bhd, Malaysia’s leading integrated telecommunications (telco) firm, is choosing to stay steadfast in the strategy to grow its mobile, fibre and enterprise segments.
The group reiterated its commitment moving forward to provide customers with high-speed, reliable network connectivity and services, on top of delivering consistent and sustainable returns to shareholders through optimising excellence and operating efficiencies.
Releasing its results for the second quarter ended June 30 (2Q24) yesterday, Maxis saw net profit climb 7.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM356mil, on the back of a 4.7% increase in total revenue to RM2.59bil.
The group attributed the growth in 2Q24 turnover and earnings to a 3.7% y-o-y growth in consumer service revenue and a 10.8% rise in its enterprise business.
Commenting on its consumer segment, Maxis said its strategy to broaden the price range of its postpaid plans to target all market segments brought in a 5.2% postpaid turnover growth.
“The rise in postpaid revenue was supported by healthy subscriber growth of 8%. Meanwhile, the prepaid segment which caters to youths remained resilient as subscribers rose by 2.3% y-o-y, attracted by greater value from personalised deals, Internet passes and lifestyle perks,” said the group.
However, it acknowledged the fierce competition in the prepaid market, which has resulted in the average revenue per user (ARPU) for the segment to decrease by RM1.10.
At the same time, the group reported that home connectivity revenue rose by 9.6% y-o-y, driven by a solid growth of 10.1% in home connection customers, while blended ARPU strengthened by 1.8% to RM110.20.
Its enterprise business, meanwhile, delivered a 10.8% y-o-y service revenue growth following solid performances in fixed connectivity and digital solutions, with contract wins across public sector, corporate, wholesale, mid-market, and small and medium enterprise customers.
Cumulatively for the first six months of 2024, Maxis posted a net earnings of RM709mil, representing a y-o-y climb of 9.1%, buoyed by a 3.9% rise in revenue to RM5.19bil.
The group said the performance up to June was driven by a 3.5% growth in its consumer business and an 8.4% improvement in its enterprise segment.
It added that the widened range of postpaid plans was successful in growing the number of consumer postpaid subscribers by 8%, which in turn contributed to the growth of consumer postpaid revenue by 5.3%.
“Prepaid revenue was relatively stable at RM1.3bil for up to June 2024, amidst strong competition.
“Our fixed mobile convergence proposition continued to attract new home connection customers, growing consumer home connectivity revenue by 9.8% y-o-y. Enterprise revenue grew mostly from fixed and solutions services, and the 2G and 4G wholesale arrangement,” said Maxis in a statement yesterday.
The group’s chief executive Goh Seow Eng commented that Maxis’ growth on all fronts is a testament to the company’s uncompromising focus on real customer needs and determination to win in the market.
“We have built a solid foundation by staying disciplined across the business and leveraging the best of technology and partnerships to deliver on our strategy.
“Enabled by network, operational and service excellence, our strong performance demonstrates our readiness to take on a lead role in supporting Malaysia’s digital ambitions through the rollout of a 5G-advanced network,” he said.
Maxis declared an interim dividend of four sen per share for 2Q24, bringing the total dividend declared for the current fiscal year to eight sen, on par with the same period a year ago.
Emphasising its full, aligned commitment to a swift implementation of the government’s second 5G network, the group said it is participating in the spectrum tender for the network’s deployment and will continue to work with the authorities and the telco industry to effect the transition to a dual 5G grid model.