Maxis Bhd reported a strong set of earnings in FY17 as normalised profit after tax (PAT) rose 5.5% to RM2.086 billion, which was the highest in four years.

It also announced a fourth interim dividend of five sen net per share.

The telco said on Thursday the higher PAT compared with the RM1.977 billion in FY16 was on the back of higher earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). 

Its Chief Executive Officer Morten Lundal said 2017 was a strong year with many proud highlights. 

“We gained further market share both in revenue and profits. We developed our superior 4G LTE network to be unparalleled in quality as the best and fastest data network in the country.”

He claims that its 4G LTE network is the widest in the country with 92% population coverage. To ensure their customers continue to enjoy the best mobile streaming experience, Maxis invested RM1.0 billion in 2017.

“Overall, our customers enjoy a combination of lots of quality data, attractive products and great connectivity.  We are most of all proud to record the highest customer satisfaction we have ever seen. We are on track towards our ambition for full digitalisation of Maxis. All in all, a strong finish to a great year.”

Service revenue continued to grow positively in a declining market, up 0.8% to RM8,525 million from RM8,455 million a year ago, supported by strong growth in postpaid and integrated services.

Postpaid delivered yoy growth of 4.2% with revenue of RM4,117 million compared to RM3,951 million last year. This was mainly driven by growth in subscription base, with high and stable average revenue per user (ARPU). Our flagship MaxisONE Plan has now surpassed 2 million subscribers, contributing a high monthly ARPU of RM117.

Prepaid revenue declined by 3.7% to RM3,849 million against RM3,997 million a year ago due to lower subscription base. This was a result of aggressive price competition, prepaid-to-postpaid migration and SIM consolidation in the market.

Twitter