Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Axiata Group Bhd expects a lower dividend of 10 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), impacted by the merger of Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd, which was completed in November last year.

Axiata chief executive officer and managing director Vivek Sood said there will be merger-related costs that will affect the group’s profit share from the merger, he told the media after Axiata's 31st annual general meeting, which was virtually held on Friday (May 26).

“Celcom used to be a fairly large contributor to us when it comes to dividend, so we do expect dividend [for this year] to be impacted, because of consolidation. We expect at least to give a 10 sen dividend,” he said.

"[I think the] outlook for this year is likely to be challenging due to macroeconomic headwinds caused by high inflationary pressures, but we will continue to grow our value, leverage our balance sheet and reward our shareholders," Vivek added.

Axiata declared a two sen per share dividend for FY2020, followed by a 14.5 sen per share dividend for FY2021 and a 14 sen per share dividend for FY2022. Previously, the group had set a target to achieve a 20 sen per share dividend by 2024, which translates to a payout of RM1.8 billion in cash.

On its financial front, Axiata Group Bhd returned to the black for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) with a RM73.85 million net profit versus a RM42.97 million net loss a year earlier, driven by higher share of results from associates, mainly CelcomDigi Bhd, as well as lower taxes and foreign exchange losses.

Quarterly revenue grew 7.92% to RM5.38 billion from RM4.98 billion in 1QFY2022, mainly contributed by its mobile operations in Indonesia and Cambodia, infrastructure business and new revenue segment from fixed broadband in Indonesia.

Asked if the group was exploring opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, Vivek said Axiata had no immediate plans at the moment, apart from the merger of its telecom operations in Sri Lanka, announced earlier this month.

On May 2, Axiata inked a binding term sheet to combine the operations of its 82.27%-owned subsidiary Dialog Axiata plc with Indian telco Bharti Airtel Ltd's operations in Sri Lanka, Bharti Airtel Lanka (Private) Ltd.

The Sri Lanka mobile operations represented about 4% of the group’s net assets.

At the time of writing on Friday, Axiata’s share price was down five sen or 1.69% to RM2.91, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM26.71 billion.

Edited ByLee Weng Khuen
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