Axiata Group Berhad announced its start of 1QFY23 with revenue growth of 7.9% to RM5.38 billion while PATAMI surged above 100% To RM74 million against losses in 1QFY22.
The group reporting its first financial result post-Celcom said strong topline growth was mainly driven by excellent performance across all Operating Companies except for Dialog, Robi, Ncell and ADA. Profit After Tax And Minority Interest was reported at RM74 million, a more than 100% growth against the same quarter in the previous year.
The underlying performance showed a resilient topline with revenue ex-device growth of 19.7% on a constant currency basis supported by strong performance across OpCos except for ADA and Ncell. However, higher Depreciation and Amortisation (“D&A”), net finance costs, and a smaller share of CelcomDigi Berhad results, which was lower relative to PATAMI contribution from Celcom as a subsidiary the previous year, led to a decline in underlying PATAMI by 79.4% YoY.
The telco said its group’s balance sheet remained steady, although gross debt/EBITDA rose to 3.79x, mainly due to Celcom’s EBITDA exclusion. Cash balance stood at RM5.5 billion.
On overview, the group said despite persistent macroeconomic challenges in the frontier markets, opportunities in emerging markets such as Indonesia’s underpenetrated FBB market offer growth opportunities for the Group. On balance, Axiata believes it’s revenue ex-device and EBIT growth to be in line with its headline KPIs for FY23.
