KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 28): Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA), the country’s largest telecommunications company by revenue, returned to the black in the third quarter as currency gains and other one-off items offset a decline in operating income.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2024 (3QFY2024) was RM976.67 million, versus a net loss of RM797.41 million a year earlier, Axiata said in an exchange filing on Thursday. The company booked foreign exchange (forex) gains on financing totalling RM1.03 billion, and another RM306.10 million from early redemption of debt.

Revenue was RM5.32 billion, a 5.3% decline when compared to the same quarter last year of RM5.62 billion, which the company attributed to depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah and Bangladeshi taka against the ringgit.

The company, in which Khazanah Nasional Bhd owns a 36.72% stake, said it would meet its target of mid-single digit growth in revenue, while earnings before interest and tax would come in ahead of its aim for a “mid-teens” increase.

No dividends were declared for the latest quarter.

For the first nine months ended Sept 30, 2024 (9MFY2024), total net profit stood at RM1.17 billion, against a net loss of RM1.30 billion in the same period last year, thanks to the company’s management of costs, capital expenditure and liability, coupled with higher currency gains and share of associates' despite higher taxation. 

Cumulative revenue was 3.27% higher at RM16.74 billion, from RM16.21 billion in 9MFY2023, although it was tempered by weaker performances at Dialog in Sri Lanka, Link Net in Indonesia, as well as Robi in Bangladesh due to forex losses.

“While we acknowledge challenges such as heightened competition in Indonesia and Malaysia, uncertainties in Bangladesh and funding requirements for fibre development in Indonesia, the group remains optimistic,” group chief executive officer and managing director Vivek Sood said in a separate statement.

He said that Axiata foresees potential opportunities from stabilising currencies, synergy extraction from merged companies, and sustained benefits from portfolio optimisation and asset monetisation. 

“The group will continue to focus on optimising our portfolio of investments as a driver of future value growth,” Axiata chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan added.

At Thursday's noon break, shares of Axiata settled one sen or 0.43% higher at RM2.32, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM21.30 billion.