Axiata Group grew its 2013 profit by 1.5% to 2.55 billion ringgit ($771.1 million), despite rough conditions at Indonesian subsidiary XL Axiata.
Group revenue grew 4.1% year-on-year to 18.4 billion ringgit. But unfavorable foreign currency fluctuations and intense competition in the Indonesian market impacted earnings.
XL Axiata reported flat revenue for the year of 21.4 trillion rupiah ($181.2 million), Excluding XL from the results, Axiata's group revenue would have grown 11.1%. The integration costs associated with Axiata's merger with Axis also weighed down on the group's bottom line.
Malaysian mobile unit Celcom Axiata by contrast lifted its revenue by 4% to 8 billion ringgit, and its net profit increased by 12% to 2.1 billion ringgit.
Axiata reported double digit revenue growth for its subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Cambodia. The group also benefited from the 9.4% profit growth at regional affiliate M1, and a nearly 80% profit growth at fellow affiliate Idea Cellular.
Axiata is forecasting a 10.1% increase in group revenue for 2014, but has warned that expansion costs in Indonesia and the weaker rupiah threaten to drag down profit growth for the year, Reutersreported.