Indosat Ooredoo’s profits – and debts – go up in Q1 2016

• Driven by strong growth in data services, data traffic up 52.5%
• Company now has 69.8mil subscribers, but only 1% on postpaid

 
PT Indosat Tbk (Indosat Ooredoo) recorded a net profit of Rp217.2 billion (US$16.3 million) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2016, compared with a loss of Rp455.6 billion (US$34.2 million) in the same period last year.
 
The positive results were driven by strong growth in its data services, with data traffic on its network up 52.5%, according to the company.
 
The Q1 profit was also driven by foreign exchange gains of Rp330.1 billion (US$24.8 million), compared to foreign exchange losses of Rp717.6 billion (US$53.9 million) in the same period a year ago.
 
These positive gains came despite the fact that “the industry is seasonally a bit weaker in the first quarter,” said Indosat Ooredoo president director Alexander Rusli (pic above).
 
“We are optimistic about 2016 … and will execute strategies to strengthen our business,” he said in an official statement.
 
Consolidated revenue in Q1 2016 was up 11.8% from the same period last year at Rp6.8 trillion (US$519 million).
 
Mobile revenue increased 15.8%, primarily due to increased revenue from data, SMS, voice, and value-added services, which was offset by a decrease in interconnection revenue, according to Indosat Ooredoo.
 
In addition, earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) also grew by 13.7% to Rp2.9 trillion (US$217.7 million) versus Rp2.6 trillion (US$195.2 million) in 2015.
 
“As a telco operator, our revenue in the first quarter was still dominated by mobile services at Rp5.67 trillion (US$432.8 million) and Rp1.13 trillion (US$86.2 million) from non-cellular services,” Alexander said.
 
On the other hand, Indosat Ooredoo’s corporate debt increased by 4.8% in full-year 2015, to reach Rp23.6 trillion (US$180.1 million).
 
As at March 31, 2016, the company had 69.8 million subscribers, with an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rp26,400 (US$2) a month.
 
“Postpaid makes up only 1% of our subscriber base, but traffic volume increased with the availability of 4G LTE (Fourth Generation/ Long-Term Evolution) services in 35 cities by the end of 2015,” Indosat Ooredoo group head investor relations and corporate secretary Harsya Denny Suryo said in Jakarta recently.
 
Rather than converting prepaid subscribers to postpaid, he said the company would instead focus on acquiring new customers by offering more products and services.
 
As at the end of March 2016, the company had 52,326 BTSes (base transceiver stations), with 3,544 of them 4G-ready, compared with a total of 40,756 BTSes and only 75 4G-capable stations a year ago.
 
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