KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 28 — Axiata Group Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2024 (3Q 2024) made a significant turnaround, reaching RM976.67 million from a net loss of RM797.41 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The strong performance was driven by higher earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), foreign exchange gains in 3Q FY2024 versus losses in 3Q FY2023, and a gain from the early redemption of debt, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.

However, revenue declined to RM5.32 billion in 3Q, from RM5.62 billion last year, mainly due to the depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah and Bangladeshi taka against the ringgit.

For the cumulative nine months of FY2024, the group posted a net profit of RM1.17 billion, reversing a net loss of RM1.30 billion last year, while revenue increased to RM16.74 billion from RM16.21 billion.

In a separate statement to Bursa Malaysia, Axiata said the year-to-date (YTD) revenue growth of 3.3 per cent was contributed by all operating companies (OpCos) except Link Net, Dialog and Robi.

“The strong performance was driven by higher revenue, finance income, share of results from associates, and improved forex gains,” it said.

Group chief executive officer Vivek Sood said Axiata is making notable progress in its value-creation journey, underpinned by operational excellence and fiscal discipline, delivering revenue growth, improved margins, and creating a sustainable balance sheet.

“Key milestones include the completion of the Dialog-Airtel merger in Sri Lanka and advancing potential merger discussions between XL Axiata and Smartfren in Indonesia, in line with our market consolidation strategy.

“In September, we completed our delayering strategy in Indonesia with the transfer of customers from Link Net to XL. This firmly establishes Link Net as a FibreCo and XL as a ServeCo, enabling both entities to scale, accelerate their organisational agility, and maximise value,” he said.

Vivek noted that the group foresees potential opportunities from stabilising currencies, synergy extraction from merged companies, and sustained benefits from portfolio optimisation and asset monetisation.

“While we acknowledge challenges such as heightened competition in Indonesia and Malaysia, uncertainties in Bangladesh, and funding requirements for fibre development in Indonesia, the group remains optimistic.

“We expect to achieve full-year revenue growth targets, with EBIT growth anticipated to exceed headline key performance indicators,” he added. — Bernama