An Outstanding Year for DiGi

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February 13, 2005
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https://digi.com.my/media/articleURLhereWhichCanbeReallyLong

An Outstanding Year for DiGi

- Revenue up 30% to RM2.23 billion
- Net Profit soar 123% to RM317 million
- Subscribers up 47% to 3.24 million
- EBITDA margin at 44%, up 3% point

Kuala Lumpur, February 14, 2005 - DiGi.Com Berhad's ("DiGi") fourth quarter and full year results for 2004 were announced today, demonstrating once again the Company's impressive performance in all key operational and financial indicators. Despite intense competition, DiGi chalked strong revenue growth driven by high net subscriber additions.

"DiGi proves its mettle yet again. Our record for bold product innovation and service quality has enabled us to achieve our strategic goals for 2004: to grow our customer base pass three million with increased profitability," said Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Morten Lundal.

Profit before tax ("PBT") for 2004 was RM447 million or 122% higher than the RM202 million recorded in the previous financial year. Higher PBT was attributed to the 30% increase in revenue from RM1.71 billion recorded in 2003 to RM2.23 billion. The higher revenue in turn, was mainly driven by the 47% growth in its mobile customer base to reach 3.24 million.

Consequently, DiGi's profit after tax ("PAT") posted 123% higher, from RM142 million recorded in the previous financial year to RM317 million while earnings per share improved to 42.3 sen as compared with 19.0 sen in 2003.

Thanks to solid revenue development, careful costs management and economies of scale, DiGi's EBITDA increased to RM979 million from RM699 million. EBITDA margin surged to 44% from 41%, a 3 percentage point increase compared to 2003.

"Driven by the surge in EBITDA, DiGi's operating cash flow rose from RM136 million to RM455 million, despite the Company's significant investments made in coverage expansion and the aggressive roll out of our high speed mobile network," Lundal said.

Attributing the strong customer uptake to the Company's relentless drive for innovation and service quality, he added, "In Q4 we revolutionised the way Malaysians can reload and share talk time values. We also further expanded Malaysia's first high speed mobile network to ensure the widest reach."

The prepaid customer base rose by 46% to 3.07 million from previous year while postpaid grew 64% to 175,000. Net additions for prepaid and postpaid were 966,000 and 68,000 respectively for 2004.

"DiGi's pace of innovation has resulted in growth higher than the industry average, and our ambition is to maintain a high momentum moving forward," Lundal said.

In comparing to the preceding quarter, DiGi in Q4 registered revenue increase of 5% to RM606 million, while EBITDA rose to RM268 million, up 7% from last quarter. PBT saw an 18% increase to RM135 million compared to RM114 million while PAT surged by 15% to RM95 million. Higher PAT was mainly contributed by revenue growth, as a result of an impressive addition of 436,000 new subscribers to the DiGi customer base to 3.24 million in quarter four.

Despite the significant increase in customer base, prepaid ARPU for the quarter was stable at RM54. Mobile data continued to gain momentum, representing 16% of mobile revenue in the fourth quarter, demonstrating customers' increasing uptake of non-voice products and services."We expect to continue to see positive development in our subscriber base. As the Malaysian market matures and its growth pace naturally reduced, we will stay on track with our underlying fundamentals. Growth will continue to be driven by the prepaid segment, and mobile data beyond SMS will become more critical for customers and for DiGi."

"We will continue to set the high pace of innovation, while making it increasingly easy for all Malaysians to go mobile. Our priority for 2005 is to significantly increase network coverage, maintain the widest high speed network coverage, and grow our customer base further. The DiGi organization and its investment programme are committed to deliver on those goals," Lundal concluded.

About DiGi

DiGi is a leading mobile communications company providing a comprehensive range of affordable, convenient and easy to use wireless services to simplify and enrich the lives of its customers. We create value for our customers by selecting the most appropriate cutting edge technology so that they benefit from products and services that give them choice, convenience and control.

We have an established presence as a leader in voice and data prepaid services with a number of firsts that have set industry benchmarks for creativity and innovation. These services are offered under the Beyond Prepaid brand name.  Our postpaid service under the Horizon Postpaid and Discover Business Solutions brand names deliver high quality voice as well as value-added mobile content and data services to both individual and corporate customers.