PT Indosat has revealed its 2011 net profit grew 28.7%, even as it missed expectations with its revenue growth.
The operator reported profit for the year of 932.5 billion rupiah ($102.57 million). But operating revenues grew just 4% to 20.57 trillion rupiah.
Cellular operating revenue grew to 16.75 trillion rupiah, from 16.02 trillion rupiah the year before, but fixed telecom revenue fell to 1.24 trillion rupiah from 1.29 trillion rupiah.
Credit ratings agency Moody's pointed out in a research note yesterday that the 4% growth in operating revenue was both lower than anticipated, and below the growth rates of Indosat's domestic rivals.
But Moody's added that Indosat has maintained its position as Indonesia's second-largest mobile operator, despite net additions of just 200,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter.
With 51.7 million subscribers, Indosat is well ahead of third-ranked XL Axiata, which has 46.4 million customers. But XL Axiata is closing the gap when it comes to market share of Indonesia's total mobile telephony revenues.
Moody's warned that Indosat has been gradually been losing market share over the last three quarters, and that recovery will depend on its ability to ramp up data capabilities.
As a result, Indosat is expected to maintain a capex budget of over 6 trillion rupiah in 2012, with spending concentrating on helping the operator catch up to its peers in terms of 3G and data capabilities.
Moody's maintained Indosat's credit rating of Ba1, with a stable outlook.