Celcom Axiata Berhad [formerly known as Celcom (Malaysia) Berhad], the most experienced and leading mobile telecommunications service provider in the country, today announced strong results, continuing its momentum and recording an unprecedented 18 consecutive quarters of positive revenue growth in the third quarter of 2010. For the first nine months of 2010, the company retained double digit growth on a year-on-year (YoY) basis in all key indicators with Revenue up 11% to RM5.13 billion; EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation) increased by 17% toRM2.41 billion, whilst PATAMI (Profit After Tax and Minority Interests) recorded growth of 24% to RM1.40 billion.
On a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, Celcom continued to show positive performance with revenue up by 0.4% despite being impacted by lower interconnection rate by more than RM30 million. This revenue growth was backed by the positive momentum in mobile broadband and higher usage during the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festive season. EBITDA remained stable whilst PATAMI increased by 2%.
Subscribers for its mobile broadband service surpassed the 800,000 mark, up 69% YoY, maintaining the Company’s position as the leading mobile broadband provider in the country. The overall broadband revenue growth of 86% YoY, contributed to 9% of total revenue, up from 5% in the same period last year. As compared to the previous quarter, broadband revenue grew by 9%. In tandem, there was a growth in overall non voice revenue, now contributing 35% to total revenue, from 30% a year ago.
Celcom’s subscriber base grew to over 11 million. The strong net additions of 501,000 during the 3rd quarter were driven by aggressive prepaid acquisition campaigns focusing on the youth and foreign worker segments. The prepaid segment showed an increase from 8.13 million to 8.55 million subscribers.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise segment witnessed continued growth, contributing approximately 10% to total revenue. This segment retained its stronghold as the leading provider to large corporations, multinational corporations (MNCs), government sector and also the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) community.
Commenting on Celcom’s 2010 third quarter results, Dato’ Sri Shazalli Ramly, Chief Executive Officer of Celcom Axiata Berhad said, “Q3 is another dignified quarter for the company, sustaining double digit growth year-on-year in all the key indicators. The performance for Q3 is a testament of Celcom’s excellent execution of our segmented marketing strategy, a structured efficient sales and distribution network, continuous improvement in network quality and customer service as well as strong discipline in instilling a Performance Management culture.”
Taking this opportunity, Dato’ Sri Shazalli also expressed his gratitude to all Celcom employees, whom he described as a dedicated pool of individuals who are experts in their respective areas. “Without their perseverance, commitment and faith in the company and its transformation mission, I do not think we would be able to witness continuous achievements,” he added.
Moving forward
To sustain its current momentum for the final quarter of the year, Celcom will continue to accelerate its mobile broadband initiatives and focus on advancing its data strategy by enhancing its data and Value-Added services (VAS). The recent appointment of Motricity to provide the technology platform that will deliver personalised and relevant mobile experiences to all its customers is a testament of its commitment towards this end.
“As the leading mobile data provider in Malaysia, we are always seeking new ways to give our subscribers the highest quality services and user experience. Mobile devices are becoming the primary way our subscribers access the Web and we want the right content and information to be easily accessible, quickly and in a user-friendly format no matter what device they may be using. With Motricity’s success with some of the largest operators in the world, Celcom will bring the best possible mobile data service experience to our customers,” said Dato’ Sri Shazalli.
To complement this technology that offers a personalised mobile Internet browsing experience, with their preferred content and information optimised for their mobile phones, Celcom is also proud to be the first telco in Malaysia to offer a range of the latest devices, be it smartphone or otherwise, such as the much anticipated BlackBerry® Torch 9800, BlackBerry® Bold 9780 as well as the LG Optimus 7, the latest Windows® Phone 7 device.
The company will also continue with ongoing investments in expanding its network coverage, capacity and enhancing its performance to meet consumers’ demand for better access and faster connectivity, especially with connectivity trends moving from voice-centric to data-centricity. One such effort is the adoption of IP-based network, better known as a Packet Transport Network (PTN), which will benefit customers through better broadband services at more affordable prices as the PTN will reduce overall cost of the transport system. The migration to PTN will also support the launch of new mobile services, providing Celcom’s customers with offers and packages that truly fulfill their needs. Apart from this, the company will also be investing in business intelligence to understand the market segments and customer behaviour to serve its customers better.
This move further complements the announcement of a network and infrastructure collaboration initiative with DiGi which is at an advanced stage at this point , with further developments to be announced in due course. Additionally, Celcom also recently announced the commissioning of 32 new 3G sites in Sarawak which will enhance overall customer experience especially on mobile broadband. The majority of these new sites will be at remote secondary towns spanning several districts across this state.
Celcom will also continue to refine its segmentation strategy and this is demonstrated through the recent marketing efforts such as the launch of the “Reload & Wow” campaign whereby the company’s prepaid customers are rewarded with great prizes simply by reloading RM20 worth of airtime within a week. For the postpaid segment, customers with usage of more than RM99 per month will get to enjoy free calls to all Celcom numbers plus free Internet usage from Friday to Sunday under its recently launched “I Love Weekends” campaign.
Awards and Achievements
Celcom was recently acknowledged as the 2010 Top Ranking Performers in the Contact Centre Industry Awards (Asia Pacific Region) at the Contact Centre World Awards (Asia Pacific Region) and also garnered Gold Awards for Best Contact Centre, Best Helpdesk (Technical Team) and Best Contact Centre Professional (Workforce Planning) at the same event.
The Company, representing the Asia Pacific Region, went on to compete at the World Finals of the Contact Centre World Awards and became the first Malaysian company to emerge triumphant, clinching Gold Awards for Best Contact Centre and Best Helpdesk as well as Silver Award for Best Contact Centre Support Professional (Workforce Planning).
For Celcom’s outstanding achievements in operational profits and strategic initiatives, the Company was rewarded with several accolades including theWireless Data Service Provider of the Year Award at the 2010 Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific ICT Awards, Best Mobile Carrier Award at the 13th Telecom Asia Awards 2010 as well as Service Provider of the Year Award, Mobile Service Provider of the Year Award and Broadband Service Provider of the Year Award at the 2010 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Telecoms Awards
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