Maxis Berhad (Maxis) announced today that it closed 2021 with a resilient Q4 performance on the back of healthy growth in service revenue and strong Operating Free Cash Flow (OFCF). Progressing well with its convergence strategy, performance was driven by its core mobile business as well as solid growth in fibre and wireless broadband.
Backed by a stable normalised EBITDA, Maxis registered healthy Profit After Tax even as it continued to invest in the nation through its 4G mobile network, fibre coverage and enterprise solutions. The quarter was also marked by strong focus on Maxis’ working capital programme and prudent cash flow management, delivering double-digit growth in OFCF.
With a priority in providing the best customer experience, Maxis invested RM1.2 billion in capex for the year, with RM597 million in Q4 alone, the highest in a single quarter. The investment was primarily to ensure high performance of its All-Ways Connected Network, future proofing for Enterprise solutions as well as its commitments for Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA) which included the delivery of 50k Fibre-to-Home in 2021.
The Company’s Service revenue increased to RM2,008 million, up 1.9% YoY, driven by core mobile business which delivered steady growth in Postpaid, while registering accelerated growth in Fibre and Wireless Broadband. While normalised EBITDA remained stable at RM939 million YoY despite the challenging operating environment.The Company declared a fourth interim dividend of 4 sen per share, plus a special interim 1 sen per share, bringing the increased annual dividend to 17 sen per share.
Profit after tax (PAT) dipped slightly by 9.4% YoY to RM289 million, mainly attributed to the continued heavy investments to strengthen the Maxis network, enterprise solutions and fibre coverage, as well as prudent adoption of reduced spectrum life, which resulted in high depreciation and amortisation costs. Operating free cash flow (OFCF) at RM1,278 million, up 12.2%YoY.
Postpaid revenue increased to RM1,019 million, up 4.5% YoY due to growth in both Maxis and Hotlink Postpaid subscriber base. ARPU was slightly lower at RM79 per month mainly due to the dilution effect from increased subscribers adopting the value
accretive Hotlink Postpaid plan.
Prepaid revenue decreased slightly by 5.9% to RM655 million, however Prepaid subscriber base increased to 5.96 million despite the highly competitive market and declining market size. Maxis leads the prepaid market share in terms of both subscribers
and revenue, attributed to the attractive Hotlink Prepaid Unlimited plan. ARPU eased to RM37 per month due to the migration of high value prepaid subscribers to postpaid along with the 3G network sunset.
Fibre and Wireless Broadband subscribers continued its uptrend, recording 178k total additional connections for the quarter, up 31.2% YoY.
“Our convergence strategy and great agility in this fast-changing environment enabled us to be resilient, while our people have shown great commitment in supporting the needs of our customers and the community. Through our continued investments in Rangkaian Kita and support for Rangkaian Malaysia, we are committed to bringing together best-in-class technologies and our All-Ways Connected network to ensure all individuals, families and businesses in Malaysia are connected more than ever before,” Gökhan Ogut, CEO of Maxis said.
