KUALA LUMPUR: Maxis Bhd expects at least RM1 billion in revenue in the first five years of its 10-year business agreement with 3G service provider U Mobile, chief executive officer Sandip Dass told reporters after the company’s 3Q results briefing yesterday.
In its 3QFY11 ended Sept 30, Sandip said Maxis took a major step in signing an agreement with U Mobile on the first 3G radio access network sharing arrangement in Malaysia.
“This is really the non-conventional sharing of the future,” he said.
“This will allow U Mobile to carry traffic for its customers on the 3G spectrum,” he added.
He said Maxis’ business arrangement with U Mobile is up to a period of 10 years with an option for up to another two years.
Meanwhile, Maxis’ net profit for 3QFY11 was down 10.6% to RM537 million, compared with RM601million a year earlier.
For the three months ended Sept 30, Maxis posted a revenue of RM2.24 billion, compared with RM2.22 billion a year earlier.
Sandip said the lower net profit was due to higher costs in depreciation, amortisation and interest expense, which was resulted from capex investing. He said the increase in revenue was driven by higher voice and non-voice revenues.
Maxis said the increase in non-voice revenue was mostly due to higher usage, while its non-voice revenue momentum built up over the last few years continued at a solid 8% growth on the back of higher mobile Internet usage and wireless broadband revenue,
“Non-voice revenue contributed to 44% of total mobile services revenue in 3QFY11, up from 42.7% in 2QFY11,” Maxis noted in a statement.
Stripping away its low-margin hubbing business, which the integrated communications services provider had scaled down early this year, and as a result of excluding International Gateway Services (IGW) revenues, Maxis’ comparable revenue year-on-year (y-o-y) was an increase of 4.8% to RM2.21 billion, against RM2.11 billion in 2010.
Maxis recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of RM1.12 billion for the third quarter, down 1.3% from RM1.14 billion a year earlier. Its Ebitda margin continued to be industry leading at 50%, compared with 51.4% a year ago, it said.
Net profit for the nine months fell 3.4% y-o-y to RM1.63 billion from RM1.69 billion previously, while revenue grew 2.6% to RM6.42 billion from RM6.26 billion.
Maxis said its non-voice revenue jumped 19% to RM2.7 billion in the first nine months this year from RM2.26 billion in the same period last year. It said over 7.5 million of its users use the Internet.
Internet and data services (non-SMS) now contribute 59% of non-voice revenue, said Maxis.
Maxis invested in capex of RM707 million in the first nine months on the back of RM1.24 billion invested in 2009 and RM1.44 billion in 2010 to augment the 3G HSPA network.
In 3Q, Maxis declared a first interim dividend of eight sen per share, which represents a payout totalling RM600 million.
As at Sept 30, Maxis said its total subscription base stood at 14.2 million (of which 12.7 million are revenue generating subscribers).
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 1, 2011.
In its 3QFY11 ended Sept 30, Sandip said Maxis took a major step in signing an agreement with U Mobile on the first 3G radio access network sharing arrangement in Malaysia.
“This is really the non-conventional sharing of the future,” he said.
“This will allow U Mobile to carry traffic for its customers on the 3G spectrum,” he added.
He said Maxis’ business arrangement with U Mobile is up to a period of 10 years with an option for up to another two years.
Meanwhile, Maxis’ net profit for 3QFY11 was down 10.6% to RM537 million, compared with RM601million a year earlier.
For the three months ended Sept 30, Maxis posted a revenue of RM2.24 billion, compared with RM2.22 billion a year earlier.
Sandip said the lower net profit was due to higher costs in depreciation, amortisation and interest expense, which was resulted from capex investing. He said the increase in revenue was driven by higher voice and non-voice revenues.
Sandip describes the 3G radio access network sharing arrangement with U Mobile as the 'non-conventional sharing of the future'.
Maxis said the increase in non-voice revenue was mostly due to higher usage, while its non-voice revenue momentum built up over the last few years continued at a solid 8% growth on the back of higher mobile Internet usage and wireless broadband revenue,
“Non-voice revenue contributed to 44% of total mobile services revenue in 3QFY11, up from 42.7% in 2QFY11,” Maxis noted in a statement.
Stripping away its low-margin hubbing business, which the integrated communications services provider had scaled down early this year, and as a result of excluding International Gateway Services (IGW) revenues, Maxis’ comparable revenue year-on-year (y-o-y) was an increase of 4.8% to RM2.21 billion, against RM2.11 billion in 2010.
Maxis recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of RM1.12 billion for the third quarter, down 1.3% from RM1.14 billion a year earlier. Its Ebitda margin continued to be industry leading at 50%, compared with 51.4% a year ago, it said.
Net profit for the nine months fell 3.4% y-o-y to RM1.63 billion from RM1.69 billion previously, while revenue grew 2.6% to RM6.42 billion from RM6.26 billion.
Maxis said its non-voice revenue jumped 19% to RM2.7 billion in the first nine months this year from RM2.26 billion in the same period last year. It said over 7.5 million of its users use the Internet.
Internet and data services (non-SMS) now contribute 59% of non-voice revenue, said Maxis.
Maxis invested in capex of RM707 million in the first nine months on the back of RM1.24 billion invested in 2009 and RM1.44 billion in 2010 to augment the 3G HSPA network.
In 3Q, Maxis declared a first interim dividend of eight sen per share, which represents a payout totalling RM600 million.
As at Sept 30, Maxis said its total subscription base stood at 14.2 million (of which 12.7 million are revenue generating subscribers).
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 1, 2011.
