Maxis, Malaysia’s biggest mobile operator, grew its net profit 13% sequentially in the September quarter on the back of strong gains in data services.
The company reported net earnings of 601 million ringgit ($189.7m), from revenue of 2.19 billion ringgit.
On a year-on-year basis, profit fell by around 50%, but the comparative figures included contributions from operations stripped away after the company's public listing last November.
Ebitda rose 11% sequentially to 1.14 billion ringgit, with ebitda margins increasing to 51.4%.
The company added 448,000 prepaid users and 66,000 postpaid subscribers over the quarter, to bring its total customer base to 13.5 million and its estimated market share to 41%.
Maxis' performance in the quarter was led by data growth. Non-voice revenues grew to 39.2% of mobile revenue, up from 36.6% in the previous quarter. The mobile broadband subscriber base reached 524,000 – double its total from the end of 2009.
Maxis CEO Sandip Das said the company would invest 1.4 billion ringgit on its network this year.
The company is forecasting a full-year ebitda margin of around 50%
Maxis stock stayed largely flat during Tuesday's trading in Kuala Lumpur, closing 0.19% lower at 5.29 ringgit.
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