Celcom Axiata Berhad third Quarter revenue ex-device rose by 3.9% YTD to RM4,578 million, driven by prepaid revenue and contribution from new Enterprise subsidiaries. The telco’s EBITDA increased +12.4% to RM2,288 million, underpinned by on-going cost management resulting in lower opex and higher debt recovery, while PATAMI rose by 65.3% to RM856 million, despite being offset by higher taxes from Cukai Makmur. In a very competitive market, both prepaid and postpaid ARPU remained stable at RM30 and RM80 respectively.
Commenting on Celcom’s sustained performance and growth momentum over the last three years, Chief Executive Officer Datuk Idham Nawawi said “Our strong performance over the quarters is the result our strategic transformation program that has touched every part of our organisation, from GTM to how we plan and run our network, including how we manage our cost base. We delivered a great financial performance in all key metrics, whilst gaining market share in a very competitive market and a challenging macro environment.
Over the past 3 years, Celcom has invested over RM1.8 billion to cater to significant growth in traffic demand. YTD Data traffic increased by 73% to 1.778 TB compared to 1.025 TB 3 years ago, while the average monthly usage per user increased by 75% to 26.2GB in the third quarter of 2022 compared to 14.9GB in the first quarter of 2020. The data utilisation trend is currently stabilizing with a slight increase of 5.1% compared to the previous quarter.
The continuous network investments also focused on multiple network enhancement initiatives that are aligned with Jalinan Digital Negara (JENDELA). Supporting over 14 million users, Celcom widest 4G and 4G LTE-A population coverage stands at 96.35% and 90.29% respectively. To date, Celcom’s network investments have resulted in increased 4G LTE pop coverage nationwide, with over 10 states and 3 Federal Territories having over 97% 4G LTE pop coverage. Celcom has also improved 4G LTE pop coverage within rural areas in Sabah, Sarawak, and Pahang, with a total of over 4,400 sites upgraded with new capacities, coverage enhancements, and optimization.
The group plans to upgrade more than 7,000 sites, expand more than 2,000km of fibre nationwide, upgrading its network core capacity to 3.3Tbps from 0.8Tbps, including core networks in Sabah and Sarawak.
For the quarter Celcom has added over 1 million new subscribers, improved average download speeds by 49%, and significantly reduced customer complaints as well as network outage incidents.
