DiGi.Com Berhad (DiGi) on April 29 announced a pre-tax profit of MYR 103.4 million for the first quarter 2004, a surge of 137 percent compared to the preceding year corresponding quarter. Its revenue jumped 31 percent to MYR 517.1 million, boosted by the strong revenue growth in its mobile and international segments.
DiGi is a leading mobile communications company in Malaysia and a listed company on Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. It is held 61 percent by Telenor of Norway and 20 percent by Malaysia’s Berjaya Group. The company runs mobile phone operation in Malaysia through its operating company DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd.
DiGi’s net profit after taxation of MYR73.3 million was 145 percent higher than the MYR29.9 million recorded in the previous year’s corresponding quarter while earnings per share improved to 9.8 sen from 4.0 sen previously.
The company’s mobile customer base as of end March 2004 grew by 613,000 or 34 percent to 2.42 million from a year ago. The 209,000 net mobile customer additions for the first quarter alone is the highest achieved in any quarter to date. DiGi’s share of the mobile customer base in Malaysia improved substantially in the past three months.
“Our strong performance reflects our customers’ belief and acceptance of DiGi’s innovative and affordable products and services, which is a further reflection of our commitment in making our customers central to all our developments and operations,” comments DiGi’s Norwegian Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Tore Johnsen, on the group’s impressive performance.
In the first quarter of 2004, DiGi became the only mobile communications service provider to offer a customized mobile service for Small and Medium Industries (SMI) to meet the increasing demands of SMI business customers and to increase their efficiency levels.
For the quarter under review, the average revenue per user (ARPU) was relatively stable despite strong growth in DiGi’s customer base. Blended ARPU in the first quarter of this year was MYR 64, marginally lower than MYR 66 from the corresponding quarter of the preceding year and MYR 65 in the fourth quarter of 2003.
“DiGi also achieved excellent growth in its mobile data revenues, which grew 42 percent in the first quarter 2004 from the previous year. Mobile data revenue for the quarter under review accounts for 13.8 percent of our total mobile revenue as compared to 12.6 percent in the corresponding quarter of last year,” Mr. Johnsen stressed.
To further encourage the growth of its mobile data services, DiGi has in the first quarter 2004 launched a short messaging service (SMS) that allows its customers to join its multi-language global mobile community. Another service on the SMS platform introduced is a music recognition technology to enhance the mobile lifestyle of customers.
During the quarter, DiGi has also appointed its second Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) network infrastructure partner in the first quarter, in the continued upgrade of its mobile network to EDGE in the Klang Valley.
“We have completed the installation of EDGE across our Klang Valley network and our customers have already begun to enjoy our world-class network quality for voice and data services,” added Mr. Johnsen.
“Therefore we are looking to increase our mobile data revenue through more activities involving SMS, Multimedia Messaging Service and services through EDGE, which we are currently showcasing.”
