Telekom Malaysia group chief executive officer Amar Huzaimi Md Deris.
PETALING JAYA: Telekom Malaysia Bhd
(TM) will keep up its cost optimisation exercise as earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) improves for the first nine months of 2024 compared to last year, with an aim to deliver optimal return to shareholders.
Group chief executive Amar Huzaimi Md Deris emphasised that the group will continue to demonstrate resilience moving forward, with an encouraging year-to-date increase in Ebit that was driven by continuous business improvements and operational efficiencies, on top of the aforementioned cost optimisation.
“This is further reinforced by our strong balance sheet and cash reserves, highlighting our healthy financial position,” he said.
Releasing its results for the third quarter of this financial year (3Q24) and cumulatively the first nine months of 2024 (9M24), TM reported a 7.9% year-on-year increase in Ebit year-to-date (y-t-d) for 9M24, reaching RM1.81bil.
At the same time, its 3Q24 net profit slid 13.9% y-o-y to RM465mil, as revenue inched 1.2% lower y-o-y to RM2.92bil.
TM attributed the challenging competitive landscape during the year for the marginally lower income, while also pointing primarily to foreign exchange losses on operations in the current quarter as well as to the recognition of tax credit from prior year losses for its drop in net profit.
Providing more segmental information of its businesses, the national telco revealed that Unifi reported an operating revenue of RM1.4bil in the current quarter, representing a 1% drop from the same three months of last year, amidst the intense competition in the retail segment.
“TM One recorded operating revenue of RM710.8mil in the current quarter, a 1.9% increase compared to RM697.7mil in the same quarter last year, primarily driven by customer projects and other telecommunications services.
“TM Global’s operating revenue for the current quarter of RM787mil decreased 3.9% compared to RM818.8mil in the same period last year, mainly from reduction in international voice services, cushioned by stronger performance in data and other services,” it added.
For 9M24, net earnings also declined 10.5% y-o-y to RM1.29bil, as turnover saw a fractional 0.4% dip to RM8.66bil.
The group said the higher net profit for 9M23 included a one-off tax credit received in 2023.
“Excluding the one-off tax credit and foreign exchange impact, our net profit shows solid growth year-on-year. Meanwhile, capital expenditure in 9M24 amounted to RM767mil, representing 8.9% of total revenue,” TM said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.
Amid the intense broadband competition, the group pointed out that the increase in Unifi’s cumulative broadband subscribers for 9M24 cushioned the impact of decline in voice and mobile device revenue, as the operating turnover of RM4.18bil in the current period was 1.8% lower compared to the RM4.25bil achieved in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, it said TM One recorded an 9M24 operating revenue of RM2.12bil, a 2% increase from the same period last year, contributed by a one-off revenue recognition from an arbitration settlement and other telecommunication services.
“TM Global recorded operating revenue of RM2.28bil for the nine months ended Sept 30, 1% lower from the RM2.3bil reported in the previous financial period, mainly from decline in international voice services, mitigated by strong performance in data products,” added TM.
Compared to the preceding quarter ended June, the group saw net profit grow 17.3% from RM396.4mil, driven by foreign exchange gains on borrowings, while revenue also inched up 0.3% from RM2.91bil, attributed to growth in Internet and multimedia, and other telecommunication related services.
TM did not propose a dividend for this quarter, having declared its only y-t-d dividend of 12.5 sen per share in 2Q24.
Amar said the group’s broadband subscriber base continues to grow steadily, driven by its Unifi UniVerse campaign, further solidifying TM’s position as the leading convergence provider with the only quad-play services in Malaysia.
“As we enter the final quarter of 2024, we are adopting a more proactive approach to boost revenue through fixed-mobile convergence and leveraging new technologies like 5G, cloud and artificial intelligence solutions to enhance customer experiences.”
