Maxis Q4 net profit soars to MYR642 millionTelegeography writes…Malaysia’s Maxis Communications has reported a 51.5% increase in fourth quarter net profit on the back of rising domestic sales and a burgeoning customer base in India. Net profit for the three months ended 31 December 2006 increased to MYR642 million (USD183 million) compared to MYR425 million a year ago, while revenue improved by 25.8% to MYR2.12 billion from MYR1.68 billion in 2005. The firm’s Indian wireless subsidiary Aircel contributed 9.7% of total group turnover in the fourth quarter, a figure it expects to increase to 10% in 2007. ‘We are expecting [Aircel’s] subscriber base to almost double to eight million by year-end,’ group chief executive officer Datuk Jamaludin Ibrahim told a news conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
For the full year 2006 Maxis’ net profit and revenue increased by 27.6% and 20.9% to MYR2.1 billion and MYR7.71 billion respectively. It recorded a net loss of 795,000 domestic subscribers during 2006, as a result of the government’s implementation of a pre-paid registration scheme, but this was cushioned by Aircel’s net addition of 709,000 subscribers.
