by NG MIN SHEN / pic by TMR 

TELEKOM Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) net profit slumped 31.8% year-on-year (YoY) to RM157.16 million for the first three months of the year, mainly due to a large drop in revenue from its TM One telecommunication (telco) service division.

The company, which posted a profit of RM230.43 million for the first quarter (1Q) a year ago, failed to capitalise on the higher foreign-exchange (forex) gain due to the stronger ringgit.

Revenue for the 1Q dipped 3.7% to RM2.85 billion from RM2.96 billion registered the year prior, largely due to the decreases in voice, data and other telecommunication-related services, the company said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the period under review stood at RM766.7 million against RM949.6 million reported the year before.

Revenue from the company’s unifi business rose 2% to RM1.34 billion in the quarter compared to RM1.31 billion previously, boosted by home and small and medium enterprise subscribers.

Its unifi customer base rose to 1.16 million users as at the end of the 1Q compared to 959,499 users a year ago.

But the profit from the division plummeted 17.4% to RM12.8 million for the quarter under review from RM15.5 million recorded last year.

For TM One, revenue fell 10.7% to RM1.03 billion in the 1Q this year (1Q18) from RM1.16 billion a year ago due to lower revenue from voice, data and other telecommunication services, pushing its profit 33.8% lower to RM134.2 million compared to RM202.8 million recorded last year.

TM Global revenue rose 0.5% to RM554.7 million during the 1Q from RM552.1 million previously, mainly

contributed by voice service. Profit for the quarter climbed 3.6% to RM130.9 million from RM126.4 million a year ago.

Total capital expenditure spent in 1Q18 amounted to RM327.4 million, or 11.5% of the revenue. The money was allocated mostly to high-speed broadband, sub-urban broadband and expansion of long-term evolution footprint.

Of the total spent, 65% was for access, 17% for the core network and 18% for support systems.

For the rest of the year, the group will continue to be guided by its “Accelerate Convergence” and “Empower Digital” strategic thrusts under its Perfexe 10 approach.

Meanwhile, the company, in a separate announcement to Bursa Malaysia, said it announced that the actual value of recurrent related party transactions (RRPT) entered by TM and its subsidiaries with Axiata Group Bhd has exceeded the estimated value of the RRPT disclosed in the circular to shareholders dated April 4, 2017, by more than 10%.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd is a major shareholder with a 26.21% equity interest in the telco.