Celcom likely to surpass Maxis within a year

by **Cals** Fri 06 Sep 2013, 08:47

Published: Friday September 6, 2013 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Friday September 6, 2013 MYT 8:11:55 AM
Celcom likely to surpass Maxis within a year
BY B.K. SIDHU & NG BEI SHAN
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PETALING JAYA: Celcom Axiata Bhd, which has been meeting its internal key performance indicators (KPI) over the last several quarters, expects the trend to continue.
StarBiz spoke to Celcom chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Seri Shazalli Ramly to ask him if Celcom was in a position to take over the lead position in a very competitive market where customers are also demanding quality services.
Celcom has also been delivering profits consistently for several quarters now and making inroads into new market segments, especially the youth segment, which Maxis Bhd is said to be weak in.
“We have consistently been meeting our KPI set by our parent, Axiata Group Bhd.
“Our second-quarter 2013 results showed that we have the subscriber numbers and profits. We also have our internal targets to gain more market share but ours is not measured against Maxis’ numbers. Its our own internal projections,” said Shazalli.
Celcom’s gain has apparently come at the expense of Maxis.

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Shazalli: ‘We also have our internal targets to gain more market share but ours is not measured against Maxis’ numbers.’

A report by CIMB Research yesterday indicated that Celcom and DiGi.Com Bhd were gaining ground on Maxis when it came to the market share of mobile service revenue.
“DiGi gained 0.6% point to reach 27.6% of mobile service revenue, while Maxis lost 0.4% point. Celcom’s market share of 35.1% is now just 2.2% points shy of Maxis’, and at this rate, we think Celcom could surpass Maxis as the largest mobile operator within a year,” analyst Kelvin Goh wrote.
That leaves Maxis’ market share of mobile service revenue at 37%.
Maxis is currently overhauling itself to be more customer-centric and has restructured itself into four core units.
It has appointed Morten Lundal as its new CEO, who takes over from Oct 1, to ensure the company does not lose more ground and its prized pole position.
And while Maxis is still putting its house in order, its rivals have been sharpening their tools to eat into its market share.
Maxis once controlled close to 50% of subscriber market share in 2007 after locking horns with the other telco behemoth. However, its pie has since shrunk.
The market has over 42 million mobile subscribers, with the penetration rate having reached over 143%.
Goh said that Maxis’ revenue had remained flat over the last few quarters, adding that Celcom was within spitting distance of Maxis’ mobile service revenue market share.
“If this trend continues, then Celcom would likely surpass Maxis within a year, in our view,” he said.
An analyst with a local brokerage who asked to remain anonymous concurred with Goh.
“There is such a possibility if the current trend continues but these are early days and it depends on how Maxis executes its plans after Lundal comes in,” he said.
He, however, noted that Maxis would defend its turf, adding that that would depend on how the new captain at the helm executes it.
The fight in the future is about a bigger share of the consumer’s wallet, with data and content playing a major role.
And if Celcom or DiGi is unable to dislodge Maxis in the lead position, it could well do in certain market segments. In fact, Celcom is already the leader in some of the market segments, as is DiGi.
Goh expected Celcom and DiGi to continue closing in on Maxis, considering its change of management and that the big three mobile carriers are trending towards equal market share, as their share of the pie converged further in the second quarter of 2013.
“While expectations are high for Lundal to turn things around, we think change would take time, given the deep-rooted issues,” he said.
An analyst with a bank-backed research firm, however, was less positive about Celcom shaking Maxis’ position, as he pointed out that the former had lost some subscribers in the second quarter of this year.
Another analyst reckoned that Celcom had a hurdle in that Maxis’ earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation margin has been consistently higher due to its higher average revenue per user.