KUALA LUMPUR: CelcomDigi Bhd said it plans to reinvest 15% to 18% of total revenue in capex to support both existing networks and the new modernised integrated network.
The telco said it had started pilot network integration efforts in select clusters and full-speed network integration will commence from the second quarter of 2023 onwards.
After an accelerated capex spend in 4QFY22 during the integration planning phase, the company had further invested RM108mil in capex in 1QFY23 to cater for increased capacity requirements.
“The ambition is to deliver the widest 4G network with an increase in population coverage from 96% to 98% nationwide, with the latest 4G LTE and 5G-ready technology to provide improved quality and experience to all subscribers,” said CEO Datuk Idham Nawawi in a statement.
This comes as the telco reiterated its commitment to play a more active and direct role in implementing the country’s 5G network.
“We also remain committed to driving growth in convergence and enterprise solutions, leveraging new technologies and partnerships in 5G, AI and IoT solutions – there is a lot that customers can expect of us going forward,” he added.
Delivering its first full quarter of combined financial reporting post-merger, CelcomDigi posted a net profit of RM317.92mil in 1QFY23, a 34.63% improvement over RM236.15mil in the same quarter in 2022.
The group reported revenue of RM3.18bil as compared to RM1.52bil in the comparative quarter.
In line with the performance, the board of directors declared an interim dividend of 3.2 sen per share, with entitlement date on June 14, 2023, and payable on June 28, 2023.
With the positive topline and bottomline growth, CelcomDigi said it generated a healthy free cash flow of RM696mil.
During the quarter, service revenue grew 0.9% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM2.67bil while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) grew 3.4% y-o-y to RM1.51bil with an Ebitda margin of 47.5%.
In 1QFY23, CelcomDigi recorded total subscriber growth of 594,000 y-o-y and 206,000 quarter-on-quarter to 20.2 million while blended average revenue per user was maintained at RM42.
