PETALING JAYA: CelcomDigi Bhd reported improved quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) topline and bottom-line performance in its third quarter results for the financial year 2024 (Q3’24)., driven by effective market execution and operational excellence.
The communications conglomerate and mobile service provider reported solid progress in its integration and transformation initiatives across retail, network and information technology, driving synergy realisation and elevating customer experiences.
In a statement yesterday, CelcomDigi said steady Q3’24 growth performance was driven by resilient underlying profitability from growing quality subscribers.
Earnings before interest and tax improved 17.7% q-o-q (+10.9% y-o-y) to RM771 million, while profit after tax grew 5.8% q-o-q (-4.1% y-o-y) to RM440 million. The company recorded RM2.689 billion service revenue for the quarter.
The consumer postpaid business grew (+0.7% q-o-q) on the back of growth in subscribers (+92,000 q-o-q), from market offers, resulting in higher take-up on convergence and family lines, a higher device contracting base and value-accretive prepaid-to-postpaid migration.
The consumer prepaid business declined (-1.4% q-o-q), due to a decreased subscriber base (-105,000 q-o-q) arising from dual-SIM consolidation and a strategic decision to reduce reliance on one-time rotational SIM segment. The impact of this rationalisation is stabilising, with subscriber losses at a notably lower rate than in previous quarters.
The home and fibre business continued double-digit growth in revenue (+18.2% q-o-q) after recording the highest growth since merger, driven by a rise in subscribers (+19,000 q-o-q) for its CelcomDigi ONE convergence plans. The company closed the quarter with 20.3 million subscribers.
The enterprise business saw steady performance in core connectivity with increase in quality subscribers and encouraging growth in ICT solutions with revenue up (+14.1%) year-to-date.
For the nine months to Sept 30, 2024, CelcomDigi recorded a net profit of RM1.22 billion compared to RM1.12 billion in 9M’23, while revenue was at RM9.4 billion compared to RM9.41 billion in the previous corresponding period.
CelcomDigi declared a third interim dividend of 3.6 sen per share or RM422 million – the highest in the last four quarters, in line with its sustainable dividend commitment to shareholders.
CEO Datuk Idham Nawawi said its resilient Q3 performance is a result of continued focus on profitable and sustainable growth, disciplined cost management and ability to continue realising synergies from the merger.
Accelerating integration and transformation initiatives across network, IT and retail, CelcomDigi’s network integration and modernisation efforts are now close to 70% complete, with over 10,500 sites modernised at end October 2024, and more than 65% customers benefiting from improved quality of experience on the new CelcomDigi intelligent network. It aims to complete 75% of network upgrades by end of 2024, ahead of its target.
The company recorded a major milestone as it completed the first phase of harmonising Celcom’s and Digi’s core billing and customer relationship management systems into a single, enhanced platform.
The company invested RM384 million in capital expenditure in the quarter to deliver on its network and IT integration initiatives.
As a flow-through of cost savings from these integration initiatives, the company has generated gross synergy of about RM1 billion year-to-date, realising from cost savings, cost avoidance, and economies of scale, exceeding its RM700 million guidance for 2024. It is on track to deliver its target of RM8 billion net present value by 2027.
Idham said, “Encouragingly, there is a clear and growing interest among enterprises in AI and emerging tech solutions, and through our AiX we are actively exploring these opportunities by implementing proofs-of-concept and pilots to accelerate adoption. As we transform to become an AI-first company, we continue to invest into innovation and ‘beyond connectivity’ solutions as our growth engine. Our priority remains in delivering robust and efficient 4G/5G connectivity services and AI solutions to consumers and enterprises, and advance the nation’s development into a 5G-AI powered digital society.”
