KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 29): Telekom Malaysia Bhd’s (KL:TM) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2025 (2QFY2025) rose 1.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM403 million, supported by cost optimisation efforts that included lower direct costs and leaner operating expenditure.
The group said operating profit before other gains and finance costs (Ebit) increased 4.5% y-o-y to RM640 million, aided by operational efficiencies including workforce reorganisation.
The marginal earnings growth came despite a 4.7% drop in revenue to RM2.77 billion, due to the absence of a one-off item reported in the same quarter last year and carrier-to-carrier (C2C) projects, which TM said, will be completed in the second half of the year, in its bourse filing on Friday.
Revenue from all customer segments saw drops in 2QFY2025.
Revenue from the business-to-consumer segment fell 0.7% to RM1.38 billion, even though the customer base grew to 3.2 million due to more device bundles and value plans.
The business-to-business segment fell 9.4% to RM670.8 million, partly because last year’s numbers included a one-off gain from settling a dispute with MYTV Broadcasting Sdn Bhd over unpaid services. It said it continued to see growth in non-connectivity services like cloud, customer projects, and digital solutions, driven by steady demand for ICT and tech services.
C2C revenue fell 7.6% to RM694.4 million, as last year’s 2Q had unusually strong sales from large one-off capacity deals.
TM’s earnings per share rose slightly to 10.5 sen in 2QFY2025, up from 10.33 sen a year ago. It declared an interim dividend of 12.5 sen per share (same as last year), totalling RM479.7 million. The ex-date is Sept 18, and payment will be made on Sept 30.
The group said in its filing with Bursa Malaysia, TM remains on track to meet its 2025 targets despite challenges like broadband competition, business segment pressures, 5G access costs, and foreign exchange losses. Core profit is up year-on-year, supported by steady subscriber growth, improved project delivery, and rising demand from cloud and data centre services.
TM said it is expanding artificial intelligence-ready (AI) data centres, edge facilities, 5G fibre backhaul, and submarine cables to support Malaysia as a regional digital hub. These upgrades will improve network performance and meet growing demand from cloud providers.
It also noted that its new data centres in Iskandar Puteri and the Klang Valley are set to be completed by early 4Q 2025, boosting its business (B2B) and wholesale (C2C) digital services.
Group chief executive officer Amar Huzaimi Md Deris said TM is progressing in key digital infrastructure including sovereign cloud, GPU-as-a-Service and data centres, alongside efforts to ensure digital inclusivity.
“Digital infrastructure and AI are no longer just a vision for TM. It’s becoming a reality," he said in a statement.
"With our investments in future-ready infrastructure, we are advancing towards our aspiration to become a digital powerhouse by 2030, while delivering sustainable value for our stakeholders,” Amar added.
Shares of TM closed three sen or 0.43% lower at RM7.02 on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM26.94 billion. The stock is up 3.69% year to date.