Highlight DiGi’s 2Q net profit jumps 31% y-o-y to RM498.9m

by **Cals** Fri 18 Jul 2014, 01:05

Highlight DiGi’s 2Q net profit jumps 31% y-o-y to RM498.9m

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 17 July 2014 13:16

KUALA LUMPUR (July 17): DiGi.com (DiGi) Bhd’s net profit jumped 31% to RM498.91 million for its second quarter ended June 30, 2014, from RM380.01 million in the preceding year’s same quarter.

Revenue for the quarter rose 6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM1.75 billion from RM1.65 million.

The group announced a second interim dividend payment of 6.4 sen per share. The ex-date for the dividend is August 8, 2014 while its payment date is on Sept 5, 2014.

The group’s strong revenue was attributed to strong growth of internet revenue, which rose 40% y-o-y.

“We’ve been persistent in driving quality experience on our brand new network, enhancing voice stability and ensuring effective data network management to give customers consistent and stable data speed, especially on commonly used mobile applications.

“Additionally, we continue to expand our 3G HSPA+ coverage to 82.7% of populated areas, and grew our fibre network to 4,400km to bring quality internet connectivity to more users in more areas across the country,” said Henrik Clausen, CEO of DiGi.

DiGi said that its internet customer base grew to 4.3 million, while smartphone penetration among its 10.9 million customers increased to 42% from 30% from the year before.

For the six months to June 2014, net profit rose to RM984.07 million from RM708.66 million the previous year’s corresponding period, while revenue increased to RM3.46 billion from RM3.30 billion.

Going forward, DiGi plans to grow its 3G HSPA+ footprint to 86% of the population, to increase its LTE sites to 1,500 in Malaysia and to expand its fibre network.

“We’ve invested RM193 million in capital expenditure during the quarter (Q1 2014: RM202 million) to grow and improve our network, and we’re on track to spend up to RM900 million to continue strengthening our network position,” said Clausen.