Fashion
Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) suffered a net loss of RM175.59 million during the third quarter ended Sept 30 compared with a net profit of RM211.82 million a year ago, due to an impairment loss on network assets recognised during the quarter.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, TM said it recognised a provision of RM934.8 million during the quarter for the impairment of fixed and wireless network assets following the continued pressure from challenging business, industry and economic conditions.
It said that the impairment losses were projected based on an assessment of the recoverable value in use of the affected network assets at respective entity levels and it will continue reviewing the economic circumstances revolving around these assets in coming periods to reflect any potential impairment or recoverable value.
Its core net profit, excluding non-operational items, stood at RM266.4 million, a 71% improvement sequentially while revenue for the quarter rose marginally to RM2.95 billion from RM2.94 billion a year ago on the back of higher data as well as other telecommunication related services revenue.
During the quarter, UniFi recorded a loss of RM808.3 million compared with a profit of RM56.7 million a year ago, due to the impairment loss on network assets while revenue fell 2% to RM1.33 billion from RM1.36 billion a year ago due to lower revenue from voice services in line with a decrease in customer base and usage.
This was partially offset by higher UniFi revenue in line with increase in customer base at 1.24 million as at end-September compared with 1.04 million a year ago.
TM ONE recorded a 13.2% drop in profit to RM147.5 million during the quarter from RM170 million a year ago due to high operating costs, including the allocated impairment loss of network assets.
Revenue for the segment rose 1.9% to RM1.12 billion from RM1.10 billion a year ago due to higher revenue from customer projects.
As for TM Global, profit rose 9.1% to RM103.3 million from RM94.7 million a year ago due to lower operating costs while revenue rose 2.6% to RM562.8 million from RM548.4 million a year ago due to higher revenue from voice services.
For the nine months ended Sept 30, net profit plunged 87.21% to RM83.5 million from RM652.74 million a year ago while revenue fell 1.74% to RM8.73 billion from RM8.89 billion a year ago.
“The recent industry and market challenges have had major impact to the overall revenue estimates and earnings of TM Group in the financial year. TM anticipates that the challenging environment will persist for both our retail and wholesale segments,” the group said.
In the midst of these challenges, TM said it will continue to focus on strengthening the performance of its core business and operations.
In a separate filing, TM announced a revised dividend policy of distributing yearly dividends of 40-60% from its net profit, effective from the next dividend declaration.
The group said that dividends will be paid depending on overall business and earnings performance, capital commitments, financial conditions, distributable reserves and other relevant factors.
