KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 28): Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA) said on Thursday its net profit more than doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier thanks mostly to foreign exchange gains.
Net profit for the three months ended June 30, 2025 (2QFY2025) was RM270.82 million, or 2.90 sen per share, according to an exchange filing. The country’s largest mobile network operator booked forex gains on financing activities totalling RM306.71 million during the quarter.
Revenue, meanwhile, slipped 11% year-on-year to RM2.97 billion as currencies of the group's operating companies depreciated against its reporting currency in ringgit.
A dividend of five sen per share was also declared, with dates of entitlement and payment to be announced later.
“We are confident that the group’s strategic realignment and financial discipline will deliver positive outcomes for our shareholders, including a progressive increase in dividends and a stronger balance sheet,” Axiata chairman Tan Sri Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said in a statement.
Axiata has been monetising some of its assets to pare down its massive debt. Apart from selling a stake in tower unit Edotco Group Sdn Bhd, the company has also identified its Indonesian broadband provider Link Net, fintech platform Boost and digital analytics company ADA for monetisation.
The company has also divested non-core operations and exited some markets, including Myanmar and Nepal.
For the first six months of FY2025, net profit totalled RM430.66 million, more than double from RM194.93 million recorded in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the first half, meanwhile, slipped 10% year-on-year to RM5.86 billion.
“In the second half of 2025, Axiata will intensify its commitment to portfolio objectives by prioritising improved cash flow and enhanced yield,” said group chief executive officer Vivek Sood. Priorities include “executing the necessary portfolio moves to ensure optimal capital allocation”, he noted.
The company also said it is on track to grow its earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) by a “high single digit” based on constant currency rates by year end.
Ebit, Axiata's sole publicly disclosed headline guidance, declined 26% to a shade under RM700 million in the first half of the year. On a constant rate based on the average foreign exchange rate in 2024, however, Ebit was up 12% in the first half.
At Thursday's noon break, the stock was down three sen or 1.14% to RM2.61, giving the group a market value of RM23.97 billion.