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KUALA LUMPUR — Maxis, Malaysia’s second largest mobile telecommunications operator by revenue, said on Thursday its net profit increased 9% year-on-year to 2.013 billion ringgit ($513 million) in 2017, as more prepaid customers migrated to postpaid services, including its elite MaxisOne subscriptions.
During the year, the group added more than 370,000 new MaxisOne customers, an increase of 22%. Average revenue per MaxisOne user totaled 119 ringgit monthly, more than the normal postpaid user’s 102 ringgit.
MaxisOne customers enjoy a higher data pool and other exclusive deals.
ARPU for postpaid subscriptions was flat at 102 ringgit, while prepaid ARPU increased 2 ringgit to 42 ringgit monthly.
A dip in prepaid service income and tougher competition caused revenue for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31 to increase by just 1% to 8.696 billion ringgit.
The group had 2.8 million postpaid customers for a revenue of 4.117 billion ringgit, compared to 3.951 billion ringgit in 2016. About 2 million of these customers subscribed to MaxisOne.
Prepaid customers, who totaled nearly 7 million users, brought in revenue of 3.849 billion ringgit, 3.7% lower than last year due to competition and users migrating to postpaid services. Total prepaid and postpaid subscribers declined 8% to 10 million.
The group said earnings were also supported by an increase in smartphone penetration, which stood at 81%, up from 76% a year ago. The company’s latest 4G, or fourth generation, network coverage also increased to 92% of the population, compared to 88% in 2016.
The group said service revenue, excluding sales of devices and network usage, is expected to decline to the low single digits due to network-sharing contracts ending. U Mobile, a smaller mobile operator, stopped renting the group’s network in June after receiving additional spectrum bands from the regulator.
Share of Maxis declined 0.49% to 6.07 ringgit on Thursday, while the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI edged up by 0.2% to close at 1,840.95.
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