TM reports first half growth in revenue, on track to meet 2021 targets

Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (TM) revenue for the first half of 2021 (1H2021) grew strongly by 8.2% to RM5.57 billion, compared to RM5.15 billion in the same period last year.

In a statement, the company said this achievement was driven by growth across all its customer segments – unifi, TM ONE and TM WHOLESALE.

On the back of this higher revenue and better cost efficiency, the group’s earnings before intersts and taxes (EBIT) rose by 29.9% to RM977.3 million, from RM752.4 million last year.

Subsequently, group profit after tax and minority interest (PATAMI) grew 27.3% to RM544.0 million, from RM427.2 million in the same period last year.

[RM1 = US$0.24]

“I am pleased to report that we have recorded a solid performance in the first half of the year and we are on track to meet our 2021 targets in line with market guidance.,” said Imri Mokhtar, managing director and group chief executive officer of TM.

“Coming off an exceptional first quarter, we recorded notable improvements in our 1H 2021 revenue and profitability against the same period last year.”

TM said it will continue to invest in future growth by modernising its network and technology platforms, to deliver the best current and future solutions for its multi-segment customers.

Captial expenditure spending in the first half of the year stood at RM597.0 million or 10.7% of revenue. Of the amount invested, 65% was for network access, 16% for core network, and the balance 19% for support systems.

“This was driven by higher revenue achieved by all of our customer segments – unifi, TM ONE & TM WHOLESALE and better cost efficiency.

“Our revenue in 1H2021 recorded an increase of 8.2% at RM5.57 billion against RM5.15 billion in the same period last year, driven by revenue growth from all customer segments. Our EBIT has increased by 29.9% from RM752.4 million to RM977.3 million,” said Imri.

Breakdown of growth

unifi recorded several operational milestones with more than 210,000 new customer activations in the second quarter of 2021 (2Q2021), TM said.

This is the highest number of unifi activations in a quarter in its 11-year history. unifi achieved an important milestone of 2.0 million customers in May 2021, it said.

By the end of June, the overall fixed broadband customer base had gone up to 2.55 million, representing a solid 15% growth over the past 12 months since June 2020.

This growth was enabled by the higher number of ports added in 2Q2021 and wider fibre network coverage, exceeding the targets committed in the Jendela plan, achieving 138% of its commitment in 1H2021, TM said.

As more Malaysians are working from home, conducting business online, participating in online learning and keeping the family entertained while staying safely at home, TM observed that internet usage went up by 45% since the start of movement control order (MCO) in March 2020.

All customer support services remain in operation with stricter standard operating procedure (SOPs) to continuously serve customers. Customer care lines remain open and attended to over 3.6 million customer interactions in 1H2021.

Following its appointment as the sole Malaysian cloud service provider (CSP) under the MyDigital blueprint, TM ONE sees growing demand for its cloud services from enterprises and government agencies, TM said.

In addition, TM ONE also served international demand to fulfil hyperscaled requirements as the local data centre provider, it added.

TM said domestically, TM WHOLESALE continues its growth momentum as the preferred infrastructure partner for High Speed Broadband (HSBB) access services.

It also achieved further expansion of infrastructure coverage and capacity for Next Generation Backhaul services for several mobile network operators, it said.

Meanwhile, the company also said it will continue to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles of sustainable and ethical business practices in serving the nation.