Maxis posts 10.7% rise in Q4 earnings, declares 5 sen dividend

PETALING JAYA: Maxis Bhd's net profit expanded 10.7% to RM559 million for the fourth quarter (Q4) ended December 31, 2017 against RM505 million in the previous corresponding period, buoyed by lower operating and finance costs.
Its revenue, however, declined 2.9% from RM2.21 billion to RM2.15 billion.
The group has proposed to declare a dividend of 5 sen per share for the quarter under review, bringing the full-year dividend to 20 sen.
Maxis said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that service revenue for Q4 of RM2.12 billion was 2% lower than Q4 16, mainly due to the decline in prepaid, which offset the growth in postpaid.
Postpaid service revenue grew 6.5% from RM1.01 billion in Q4 16 to RM1.08 billion in the current quarter, driven by the enhanced device ownership propositions which continued to register high average revenue per user (ARPU).
Postpaid ARPU remained relatively stable at RM103 per month in Q4 17 versus RM104 in Q4 16.
Prepaid service revenue declined 11.1% from RM1.02 billion in Q4 16 to RM904 million in Q4 17, dragged by the lower subscription base which was impacted by the continued SIM consolidation, migration to postpaid and intense competition.
While prepaid ARPU declined marginally to RM41 per month, ARPU for the Hotlink FAST remained steady at RM43 per month, supported by the high mobile internet usage.
Maixs' capital expenditure (capex) for the current quarter decreased RM66 million to RM382 million, mainly attributable to the completion of network modernisation in Q4 16.
Commenting on the outlook, Maxis expects the market to remain competitive as data quality and pricing continues to be the focus for customers and competition.
It foresees service revenue to fall in low single digit with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) declining at mid single digit level for the financial year ending December 31, 2018.
While the group will continue to invest to maintain its network superiority, Maxis noted that base capex is expected to be around RM1.0 billion given the high investments in preceding years, while free cash flow (excluding upfront spectrum assignment fees) is projected to be at a similar level to FY17.
Maxis' full-year net profit increased 8.9% from RM2.01 billion to RM2.19 billion, the highest in the past four years. Revenue came in at RM8.7 billion, 1% higher than the RM8.61 billion achieved a year ago.
On Bursa Malaysia today, Maxis fell 3 sen or 0.5% to close at RM6.07 on volume of 1.02 million shares.