Showing posts with label Celcom. Show all posts
Celcom Axiata posts record RM3.5bil EBITDA from voice, SMS, broadband and smart plan
KUALA LUMPUR: Celcom Axiata Bhd recorded its highest ever earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2012 of RM3.45bil mainly due to contributions from voice, SMS, mobile broadband and smart spending programme.
The EBITDA earnings grew 7.1% from RM3.22bil a year ago.
The programme was introduced three years ago for its operation and capital expenditure. The company had saved RM1.3bil from it.
Chief executive officer Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly told a press conference that 2012 was an outstanding year for Celcom, which is the main pillar ofAxiata Group Bhd.
Celcom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axiata, reported a 3.6% increase in revenue for its voice segment to RM4.6bil in 2012 from RM4.4bil in 2011 while the non-voice revenue stood at RM2.73bil, a 10% increase from a year ago.
Company revenue for 2012 stood at RM7.74bil, a 7% growth compared with RM7.23bil a year ago while its profit after tax and minority interests (PATAMI) stood at RM2.2bil, up 5.1% from a year ago.
At end-2012, with its total subscribers reaching 12.7 million and the inclusion of the mobile virtual network operators (MPOV) such as XOX Bhd and Tune Talk Sdn Bhd, the company had overtaken Maxis Bhd's number of subscribers.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec 30, 2012, the company's EBITDA increased by 2.74% to RM861mil from RM838mil in the same quarter in 2011. Its revenue for the quarter stood at RM1.98bil, up 3.89%.
Meanwhile, the fourth quarter's PATAMI decreased 18% to RM510mil from RM622mil in the same corresponding period, which the company said was mainly due to bonus payouts. The average revenue per user stood at RM49 for both postpaid and prepaid.
“This is our 27th consecutive quarter of growth despite a challenging outlook for the industry and the termination of a domestic roaming arrangement from U Mobile,” Shazalli said.
He added that the company lost RM45mil from the termination, but added it still showed the highest revenue growth in the industry.
Moving forward, Celcom targets to invest RM1bil for capital expenditure this year, with RM300mil invested on information technology and network expansion.
“This year will be a very challenging year for us. We are also targeting to venture into new digital businesses,” he noted.
Shazalli said that Celcom was long-term evolution (LTE) ready and planned to allocate RM100mil as capital expenditure to roll out its LTE programme with the commercial launches to be announced in the second quarter of this year.
To date, Celcom has rolled out up to 70 4G sites and this is expected to reach 300 to 500 sites by year-end.
“We target to reach at least 1,500 4G sites by 2015,” Shazalli noted.
LTE, which is marketed as 4G LTE, is a standard for wireless communication of high-speed data for mobile phones and data terminals.
Asked on its partnership with loss-making XOX Bhd, one of its MPOVs, Shazalli said the company was targeting a new business plan and new brand to be launched by second quarter of this year.
Outstanding: Celcom Axiata Bhd CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly rejoicing at the company’s quarter four results briefing in Kuala Lumpur. Celcom posts an outstanding full-year 2012 results with record earnings.Tuesday March 5, 2013
The Star BizLTE Spectrum Finalized ?
The Star reported that the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is finalizing its allocation of the 2.6GHz spectrum. Its Chairman, Datuk Mohamed Sharil Tarmizi said on the sidelines of the CommunicAsia 2012 Summit in Singapore that the allocation is being finalized. He added that the government is looking at infrastructure and not service provider consolidation. The mobile operators will get to keep their brands, but they need to share the spectrum across possibly 2 to 3 networks. Not all 9 operators will get the spectrum.
Transforming cellular companies
Saturday January 28, 2012 By B.K. SIDHU
With the data boom, cellular firms have to transform to stay relevant
THERE is already a washing machine that can be programmed by its user using the Internet. And maybe, one day your favourite potted plant may tweet you that it needs to be watered. A report says that beverage companies are already tracking the weather to know the change so that they can serve their customers better and retailers are finding new ways to reach out to new markets. The extent of which the Internet has infiltrated our daily lives might seem a bit of a joke for some, but the cellular companies are not seeing the funny side of that.In fact, the data boom is already threatening their once bread-and-butter voice revenues which have stagnated as people use the Internet for much of their communication, bypassing the use of traditional avenues the cellular companies were built on. Companies are the first to jump on the bandwagon in terms of data, using software and technologies that drive efficiency and profits. Now, the man-in-the-street is doing the same to make their lives a lot easier in an ever-increasing demanding world.
“Emerging academic research suggests that companies that use data and business analysis to guide decision making are more productive and experience higher returns on equity than competitors that don’t,” says McKinsey in a report.
Need for change
Over the past two years, Malaysian celcos have been reshaping and re-inventing themselves. Their objective is to keep users on their networks. Celcom Axiata Bhd has been in transformation over the past two years. In its journey, it sees that by 2015, 50% of its revenues will come from data and the remaining 50% from voice. Data contribute just under 40% of revenue today. The have set up consumer labs and paid top dollar to experts to know what their users want. It has also flattened its decision-making processes into three three units where its CEO Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly heads one and the most important of all – the one that zeroes in on the customer.
“Where the industry is going depends on different facets. Companies like us have to make a choice as where to specialise in, where to dominate and what to be good at. We may want to drop things that we do not want and approaching the market as a single mass may no longer be applicable. We will see companies taking unique positions and giving unique offerings,” he says. The battle lines have been drawn and for Shazalli, Celcom has to be seen as a company where a customer has access to from every possible angle and circumstances.
DiGi.Com Bhd too is on a transformation journey ever since its new CEO Henrik Clausen came on board in May 2010. Its tagline of “Internet for all” is the direction the company is focused on. Maxis Bhd , the largest cellular company in the country by subcribers, is on a similar journey. Its CEO Sandip Das says: “It is not an option but a need and there may be many life cycles.” Even Das has reorganised the group so that there is strong operating leadership combination with two COOs.
U Mobile Sdn Bhd under Dr Kaizad Heerjee has been making some noise and is gaining traction in the broadband world. It is not easy when there are three big players but operators like U Mobile, Packet One Networks Sdn Bhd (P1) , RedTone International Bhd and YTL Communications Bhd have a place in the market space and they are providing Internet connections to their customers and continue to skirmish against the big three. All operating cellular and wireless players are in expansion mode and in the same direction.
