Aktel performs ‘exceptionally well’
Sunday, 30 August 2009
FE Report
Asian mobile operator group Axiata Group saw its profits and revenues rose up to 8 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 ended June 30, Malaysian leading daily Star Online reported.
Revenues went up to MR (Malaysian Ringit) 3.16 billion from MR 2.93 billion in the year-ago quarter, boosted by growth in the operations of Celcom (Malaysia) and Axiata Bangladesh (Aktel).
Axiata Group Berhad is one of the largest Southeast Asian telecommunication companies, focused in high growth low penetration emerging markets.
Axiata Group Bhd's net profit rose 43.6 per cent to RM 526.8 million for the second quarter versus RM 366.6 million in the previous corresponding period, its best quarter since its listing in April last year.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) went up 2 per cent on prudent cost management and stable margins at a number of group companies to MR 1.24 billion from MR 1.22 billion.
The current quarter profit was positively impacted by pre-tax foreign exchange gains as opposed to pre-tax foreign exchange losses reported in the year-ago quarter, the online telecom news provider ellaborated. The number of regional mobile subscribers almost doubled year-on-year to 99.2 million, it added.
For the full year, Axiata expects to grow revenues 6 to 11 percent and to grow EBITDA by 4 to 6 per cent.
Malaysian Star online said, the improved performance was attributed to better operational contribution, with PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk (XL) and Axiata (Bangladesh) Ltd (AxB) performing exceptionally well, and favourable foreign exchange (forex) gains.
Axiata's Malaysian mobile operations under Celcom (M) Bhd contributed close to half of group revenue and 69 per cent of net profit, while the rest was derived from its overseas operations including Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Celcom's net profit grew 3 per cent to RM 367 million in the second quarter from the first quarter while revenue rose 5 per cent to RM 1.5 billion, its best quarterly growth in two years, due to expansion in prepaid and postpaid as well as mobile broadband segments.
Sri Lanka's Dialog saw improved operational performance especially in ebitda and cost management.
Net earnings, however, were impacted by the accelerated depreciation from the network modernisation. AxB, meanwhile, continued to remain profitable after its turnaround in the first quarter.
Axiata (Bangladesh) Limited 'AKTEL' is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and NTT-DoCoMo of Japan.
With the change of name in early July 2009, Axiata (Bangladesh) Limited looked forward to continue to provide its customers in Bangladesh with state-of-the-art technologies.
Axiata's mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under the brand name 'Celcom' in Malaysia, 'XL' in Indonesia, 'Dialog' in Sri Lanka, 'AKTEL' in Bangladesh, 'HELLO' in Cambodia, 'Idea' and 'Spice' in India, 'M1' in Singapore and 'MTCE' in Iran (Esfahan).
Asian mobile operator group Axiata Group saw its profits and revenues rose up to 8 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 ended June 30, Malaysian leading daily Star Online reported.
Revenues went up to MR (Malaysian Ringit) 3.16 billion from MR 2.93 billion in the year-ago quarter, boosted by growth in the operations of Celcom (Malaysia) and Axiata Bangladesh (Aktel).
Axiata Group Berhad is one of the largest Southeast Asian telecommunication companies, focused in high growth low penetration emerging markets.
Axiata Group Bhd's net profit rose 43.6 per cent to RM 526.8 million for the second quarter versus RM 366.6 million in the previous corresponding period, its best quarter since its listing in April last year.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) went up 2 per cent on prudent cost management and stable margins at a number of group companies to MR 1.24 billion from MR 1.22 billion.
The current quarter profit was positively impacted by pre-tax foreign exchange gains as opposed to pre-tax foreign exchange losses reported in the year-ago quarter, the online telecom news provider ellaborated. The number of regional mobile subscribers almost doubled year-on-year to 99.2 million, it added.
For the full year, Axiata expects to grow revenues 6 to 11 percent and to grow EBITDA by 4 to 6 per cent.
Malaysian Star online said, the improved performance was attributed to better operational contribution, with PT Excelcomindo Pratama Tbk (XL) and Axiata (Bangladesh) Ltd (AxB) performing exceptionally well, and favourable foreign exchange (forex) gains.
Axiata's Malaysian mobile operations under Celcom (M) Bhd contributed close to half of group revenue and 69 per cent of net profit, while the rest was derived from its overseas operations including Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Celcom's net profit grew 3 per cent to RM 367 million in the second quarter from the first quarter while revenue rose 5 per cent to RM 1.5 billion, its best quarterly growth in two years, due to expansion in prepaid and postpaid as well as mobile broadband segments.
Sri Lanka's Dialog saw improved operational performance especially in ebitda and cost management.
Net earnings, however, were impacted by the accelerated depreciation from the network modernisation. AxB, meanwhile, continued to remain profitable after its turnaround in the first quarter.
Axiata (Bangladesh) Limited 'AKTEL' is a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and NTT-DoCoMo of Japan.
With the change of name in early July 2009, Axiata (Bangladesh) Limited looked forward to continue to provide its customers in Bangladesh with state-of-the-art technologies.
Axiata's mobile subsidiaries and associates operate under the brand name 'Celcom' in Malaysia, 'XL' in Indonesia, 'Dialog' in Sri Lanka, 'AKTEL' in Bangladesh, 'HELLO' in Cambodia, 'Idea' and 'Spice' in India, 'M1' in Singapore and 'MTCE' in Iran (Esfahan).