29 Aug 2018

TM turns in revenue of RM5.78 billion YTD for 1H2018 amidst challenging environment

TM turns in revenue of RM5.78 billion YTD for 1H2018 amidst challenging environment Article Header
Financial Results
General

Key Highlights of 1H2018:

      • Performance to-date:
      • Group Revenue of RM5.78 billion
      • Group Reported Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) at RM1.61 billion
      • Group Reported Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) stood at RM444.5 million; Group Normalised EBIT at RM433.0 million
      • Group Reported Profit After Tax and Non-controlling Interests (PATAMI) was RM259.1 million; Group Normalised PATAMI stood at RM261.1 million

 

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today announced its financial results for the first half of the year ended 30 June 2018. The Group posted revenue of RM5.78 billion year-to-date, 2.7% lower from RM5.94 billion in the corresponding period last year. This was primarily due to a decline in voice, data and other telecommunication related services as well as provisions recognised against wholesale revenue impacted by regulatory mandated access pricing.

Group Reported Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) for 1H2018 was RM1.61 billion as compared to RM1.80 billion in 1H2017 mainly due to the lower revenue. Stripping off non-operational items, such as unrealised forex loss on trade settlement, Group Normalised EBITDA was 13.9% lower, at RM1.60 billion.

Group Reported Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) for 1H2018 was RM444.5 million as compared to RM560.9 million in 1H2017. Stripping off some non-operational items, in particular unrealised foreign exchange loss on international trade settlement, normalised EBIT stood at RM433.0 million.

Group Reported Profit After Tax and Non-controlling Interests (PATAMI) was at RM259.1 million, whilst Group Normalised PATAMI was RM261.1 million, after setting aside non-operational items such as unrealised forex impact on borrowings and international trade settlements.

Datuk Bazlan Osman, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, TM said: "The first six months of 2018 has been very challenging for us, from rapid developments in the market to increasing regulatory pressures. Given the current landscape, these events further add challenges to our financial performance. Being cognizant of the potential impact to TM, we had revised our 2018 Headline KPIs as well as Capex guidance in early July 2018. Alongside this revision, we also launched our Performance Improvement Programme (PIP 2018) as a broad initiative to overcome the headwinds. The PIP 2018 is guided by four (4) main pillars - Revenue Uplift, Sustained Profitability, Improved Cash Flow and Increased Productivity. We expect the regulatory and sector challenges to persist in the near-to-midterm and undertaking these PIP 2018 initiatives are necessary measures to ensure the sustainability of our business for the long term."

The total capital expenditure (CAPEX) for 1H2018 amounted to RM710 million or equivalent to 12.3% of revenue. Of the total capex investment, 18% was allocated for Core Network, 59% was for Access, and the balance 23% for Support Systems.

“Delivering convergence and going digital remains our priority. We will continue to focus on growth, yet be more prudent in our spending and sweat our existing assets. As such, we are also revising our capex guidance for the full year to 19 – 20% of revenue.”

“We currently have 2.30 million broadband customers and in terms of convergence, we saw more customers moving up the value chain with having triple-play services and above, evidenced by our convergence penetration now at 47% compared to just 37% in 2Q 2017,” he added.

At the media briefing, TM also announced that its unifi Basic plan, which is a 60GB broadband-only unifi plan will now be extended to everyone beginning September 2018 (no longer exclusive for households with income of less than RM4,500 per month).

“Affordability and accessibility of quality highspeed broadband services is important to TM, and we are committed to lead the charge to unlock the potential of a digitally-savvy Malaysia. As such, we are happy to announce that we are extending the unifi basic plan to all,” he concluded.

Comparison: Quarter-on-Quarter (2Q2018 vs 1Q2018 Results)

For the current quarter under review, Group Revenue stood at RM2.94 billion, higher by 3.1% QoQ mainly attributed to an increase in data, internet and other telecommunication related services.

Group EBITDA rose 10.3% QoQ to RM845.9 million from RM766.7 million the previous quarter. Stripping off non-operational items, such as unrealised forex loss on trade settlement, Group Normalised EBITDA was 5.9% higher, at RM823.4 million.

Group EBIT grew by 27.2% QoQ to RM248.9 million from RM195.6 million in 1Q2018. On a normalised basis, EBIT improved by 9.6% QoQ to RM226.4 million from RM206.6 million in 1Q2018.

Group PATAMI was at RM102.0 million, lower by 35.1% QoQ from RM157.1 million in the preceding quarter, whilst Group Normalised PATAMI was RM155.8 million QoQ, higher by 48.0% QoQ, after setting aside non-operational items such as unrealised foreign exchange impact on borrowings and international trade settlements.

Comparison: Year-on-Year (2Q2018 vs 2Q2017 Results)

For the current quarter under review, Group Revenue stood at RM2.94 billion, lower by 1.5% YoY mainly due to voice and data services.

Group EBIT stood at RM248.9 million, lower by 3.2% YoY from RM257.1 million in 2Q2017. On a normalised basis, EBIT was lower by 25.6% YoY to RM226.4 million from RM304.5 million in 2Q2017.

Group PATAMI stood at RM102.0 million, less 51.5% as compared to 2Q2017; whilst Normalised PATAMI also decreased 25.1% YoY to RM155.8 million from RM208.0 million in 2Q2017.

Prospects for the Current Financial Year Ending 31 December 2018

The recent regulatory challenges and market environment have had major impact to the overall revenue estimates and earnings of TM Group in the current quarter. TM anticipates that the challenging environment will persist for both of our retail and wholesale segments. In the midst of these challenges, TM will continue our focus towards strengthening performance of our core business and operations.

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27 Feb 2018
TM on course to accelerate convergence and empower digital to expedite national broadband adoption; continues value creation

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The recently launched unifi mobile #BEBAS, broke away from convention - where our customers are now liberated to use our mobility service relevant to their needs - and fully on digital, showed very encouraging performance.” “TM Group remains at the leading edge of enabling the country’s digital economy via our broadband deployment for the nation and in bridging the digital divide. In our unique role as protector of national interest, the Group’s achievements thus far have been numerous. Through our products and services, we have delivered countless benefits to not only our customers, but all Malaysians. We now have a converged nationwide coverage of unifi which includes broadband, mobility and wifi. As at end 2017, we recorded a total broadband customer base of more than 2.3 million customers. 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With the consolidation, TM ONE is now the one and only trusted digital partner and enabler for enterprises and the public sector to fully realise their digital opportunities. The new business cluster enables private enterprises and government agencies to enhance the way they work, with ‘Consider IT Done’ as its driving force and attitude. In 2017, TM ONE placed more emphasis on an approached termed as “verticalisation”, converging customised vertical or industry relevant solutions, to unleash their full digital potential. Top-priority verticals have been identified for immediate revenue generation. The Group foresees higher traction in its Data Centre business once its Klang Valley Core Data Centre (KVDC) is fully completed later in 2018. 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On the international front, we also connect the world via domestic, regional and global submarine cable development and investments with a total of twenty (20) submarine cables with fibre-route of more than 190,000 km around the globe to date. Empowering Digital Empowering Digital entails digitisation (driving productivity via digital) and digitalisation (monetisation of digital businesses), which combined, will enable TM Group to reap the full benefits of improved productivity, enhanced customer experience and monetisation of opportunities presented. In September 2017, TM Group launched unifi.com.my web portal, a single all-in-one customer service absolute portal for interaction on unifi related services, enabling customers to order or upgrade their services, check their usage, pay bills, troubleshoot online as well as chat in real-time with our agents for assistance.  Under its digital empowerment pillar, the Group also launched hub@TM, a one-stop centre for all apps developed for Warga Keluarga TM. 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16 Jul 2018
Sultan Perak launches Telegraph Museum in Taiping, Perak

​Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) via its foundation, Yayasan Telekom Malaysia (YTM), continues its role to preserve arts, culture and national heritage when the Company today officially launched its second museum - Telegraph Museum - the first of its kind in the country, in Taiping, Perak. The launch of the Telegraph Museum was graced by HRH the Sultan Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah. Also present at the launch were HRH Sultanah of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim, Raja Muda Perak, Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa and Raja Di Hilir Perak Raja Iskandar Dzulkarnain together with Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr Sulaiman Mahbob, Chairman, TM who also the Chairman of YTM, Datuk Bazlan Osman, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer, TM and Abd Hamid Hashim, Director of YTM. The launch of Telegraph Museum is a historical event for YTM after the opening of the Telekom Museum or also known as Muzium Telekomunikasi Negara in Kuala Lumpur in 1994. Tan Sri Sulaiman in his speech said, “The role of the museum has changed over the years, expanding its focus beyond presenting things of the past to include creating a connection with the present and a glimpse into the future. Telegraph Museum is a space that provides us with the knowledge on telegraph’s history since 18th century. The Post & Telegraph Department (P&T) has played an important role towards the development of National’s telecommunication system and TM through YTM has the responsibility to maintain and preserve our nation’s heritage for future generation.”  “The establishment of the Telegraph Museum is set to be the latest tourist attraction in Perak specifically and Malaysia, generally. The museum features the history of telegraph communications system including its maiden breakthrough here and how the technology has contributed to the development of the nation. We hope that the both museums; Telekom Museum and Telegraph Museum will be the places for students, researchers and the communities within and outside the country to deepen their understanding on the country’s telecommunication heritage and telegraph communications system,” he added. YTM’s efforts in establishing this Telegraph Museum is intended to restore and conserve the historic building, built in 1883 that housed the first Post Office & Telegraph (P&T) Office in Malaya, which then also became the first office of Telekom Malaysia. This 135 years old Telegraph office represents national identity and the highest historical moment in the earliest telecommunications history in the country. The two storey building has also been used as Jabatan Telekom Club Office and Telekom Malaysia Technical Operations Office before conservation works of the heritage building by maintaining its original shape during the 18th century. Among the interesting artifacts being showcased at the Telegraph Museum is the 1870s submarine cable which was the earliest cable in the world that uses insulation materials from the Gutta Percha tree extract. Visitors can also take a tour around the museum to see the telegraph transmitor and reception tools as well as other peripherals related to telegraph communications system back then while appreciating the history of telegraph and the benefits it brought to the nation until the telegram service was terminated in 2012. Malaysian citizens can purchase the entrance tickets at RM8 for adults and RM5 for children while for non-Malaysians, the ticket price is RM15 per person. In conjunction with the launch of the Telegraph Museum, TM  also collaborated with Pos Malaysia in issuing a limited edition stamp collection kit that features the Telegraph Museum which can be purchased at RM50.80 per set from 98 Pos Malaysia Offices nationwide. With the launch of this second TM museum, TM has proven their commitment in conserving this historic heritage. The Company believes that these initiatives by YTM such as the establishment of the Telekom Museum and the Telegraph Museum will greatly benefit in national development, in line with our unique role as a partner in nation building.

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