Net profit came in at RM289mil on improved data revenue

PETALING JAYA: DiGi.Com Bhd net profit for third quarter ended Sept 30 rose 19% year-on-year to RM289mil on higher data revenue.

The celco, which is in the midst of changing the way it operates and dealing with its customers in its quest to record better growth, posted RM1.35bil in revenue for the quarter.

For the same period a year ago, the revenue was RM1.23bil.

Pre-tax profit for the third quarter was 17% higher at RM390mil compared with RM333mil a year ago.

Earnings per share were 37.2 sen compared with 31.4 sen previously. The celco has announced a 50 sen per share net interim dividend for the quarter.

"We are satisfied with the third-quarter performance. It is a comfortable level of growth that we are seeing.

"In fact, we have been experiencing the momentum of growth for several quarters now but as we go forward, we (need) to work on the way we do our business and deal with our customers,' chief executive officer Henrik Clausen told StarBiz.

The need to change the way it operates is to meet the needs of the more demanding consumers.

Clausen said the change would involve tweaking all areas of its operations - customer care, call centres, distribution network and even the build-up of its network.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, DiGi net profit rose to RM845mil from RM753mil while revenue increased to RM3.97bil from RM3.66bil. The revenue reflects a 9% growth, which is above the industry's average of 5%-6%.

The celco has 8.2 million subscribers as at end-September compared with 7.4 million as at end-December 2009.

There is a decline in average revenue per user to RM53 compared with RM55 in 2009 mainly due to competitive price pressures.

DiGi will invest to improve on its coverage and network capacity to cater to the rising demand for Internet services for small and large screens.

Its capital expenditure this year is expected to be about RM718mil, the same amount invested in 2009.

Clausen said DiGi would continue to leverage on bundling its services and reach out to a wider population in rural and urban ares by increasing its distribution channels.

"The major drivers of growth will be mobile Internet and mobile broadband. We will also defend our voice business.

"There are several areas of growth, one of which is the youth segment which we intend to capitalise on,' he said.

- The Star Online