GROUP FINANCIAL
ANALYSIS
Axiata Group Berhad (Group) ended FY15
with highest ever revenue and
Profits
After Tax and Minority Interests (
PATAMI) in
its history, on the back of a challenging
landscape across all key markets.
Benefitting from a diverse portfolio of
business spreading across key emerging
Asian markets and forex translation gains,
the Group delivered total revenue of
RM19,883.5 million, a 6.3% growth from
prior year. Data continues to drive growth
with 29.8% increase in revenue, which
now contributes to 23.5% of total Group
revenue, a marked increase from 19.3% in
FY14; demonstrating Group-wide targeted
data investment is paying-off.
Earnings
Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and
Amortisation (EBITDA)
stood at RM7,284.1
million and PATAMI for the year was at its
all-time high of RM2,554.2 million, fueled
by foreign exchange translation gains,
tower gains and Operating Companies
(OpCos) performance.
At year end, the Group cash balance stood
healthy at RM5.5 billion after dividend
payment and also aggressive investment
in data related capital expenditure across
its footprint. Excellent performance was
also recorded by its associate companies
in India and Singapore. In terms of
customer base, the Group secured a
number two position against its regional
peers with a growth of 3.4%, achieving
275 million subscribers at the end of FY15.
Malaysia’s overall recovery in FY15 was
hampered by a flat growth in the market
underpinned by overall macro-economic
and industry headwinds; in addition to
internal challenges; total revenue for the
year declined by 5.1% to RM7,337.6 million.
Consequently, EBITDA also decreased by
12.8% to RM2,719.2 million. Profit After
Tax (PAT) of RM1,301.3 million was 24.9%
below FY14 mainly due to lower EBITDA
and higher depreciation and amortisation
charges arising from data driven capital
expenditure investments. In addition, PAT
was also impacted significantly by one-off
expenses and also start-up losses in new
ventures of RM53 million and RM71 million
respectively.
Despite the sluggish backdrop, data
revenue in Malaysia continued its
momentum with growth of 20.7%; fueled
by 48.0% growth in mobile Internet revenue
and higher smartphone penetration.
With its focus on data segment in the
market, its data users of 6.6 million now
represent 54.4% of its total subscriber
base of 12.2 million. With the completion
of the IT transformation exercise in FY15,
Malaysia will continue its commitment to
deliver superior customer experience and
innovative data offerings.
In Indonesia, XL’s “3R – Revamp, Rise and
Reinvent” transformation agenda is on
track and continues to gain momentum,
as evidenced by three consecutive
quarters of growth in Revenue, EBITDA
and EBITDA margin in FY15. Indonesia
registered revenue of RM6,657.0 million
in FY15, an increase of 2.8.% primarily
driven by weaker Malaysian ringgit, as
revenue was partly impacted by the
expected loss of revenue from the sale of
towers in December 2014. FY15 EBITDA
stood at RM2,512.6 million up 1.8% while
EBITDA margin declined marginally by
0.4 percentage points (pp) to 37.7% as
compared to FY14. FY15 loss after tax
was RM10.9 million, 95.1% lower than FY14
losses; primarily due to the recognition
of one-off gains from sale of towers and
lower taxes.
Data services revenue in Indonesia
continues to experience double digit
growth, increasing by 13.8% during the
year at local currency and contributed to
27.1% of total gross revenue as compared
to 23.2% in FY14. In addition, data traffic
grew by 54% Year on Year (YoY) in FY15
compared with the same period last year
with total Data users at 22.5 million or 54%
of the total subscriber base.
As part of the proactive Balance Sheet
Management initiatives to reduce the
foreign exchange exposure and volatility,
over a period from July to October 2015,
XL repaid or refinanced all unhedged
external USD debt. Thus all outstanding
external USD debt is fully hedged until
maturity.
Sri Lanka had a stellar year, despite intense
competition and regulatory challenges.
As it further consolidated its position as
a market leader, total mobile subscribers
increased by almost 14.0% to 10.9 million
subscribers. Revenue surged 25.8% to
RM2,120.7 million driven by strong revenue
growth in mobile, fixed line and television.
At the back of a strong performance in
revenue and diligent cost management
initiatives, EBITDA grew 30.7% in FY15.
PAT performance however fell by 38.3%
as higher EBITDA being offset primarily by
the recognition of one off levies and taxes
in FY15 of RM58.8 million, higher forex
losses and depreciation and amortisation.
Capital investment in Sri Lanka grew
by 43.6% at local currency during the
year with intensified investments in high
speed broadband infrastructure and roll
out of fiberisation alongside investment
into the final phase of the Bay of Bengal
Gateway (BBG) Sub-Marine Cable project.
Notwithstanding the expansion of capital
investments to strengthen its leadership
position, Sri Lanka continued to exhibit a
structurally robust balance sheet, with net
debt to EBITDA ratio at a healthy 0.78x as
at the end of December 2015.
Performance
in
Bangladesh
was
moderated due to heightened price
competition as well as a geopolitical
uncertainties in Bangladesh. Despite this,
Robi delivered subscriber growth of 12.0%
from FY14 to 28.3 million subscribers via
its focus on innovative product offerings
and superior data network experience.
axiata group berhad | annual report 2015
029
