In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the telecommunications company also said its revenue more than doubled to RM3.12 billion from RM1.54 billion previously.
The group said the growth was largely driven by higher device sales, as well as a 3% rise in its subscriber base to 20.48 million.
On a cumulative six-month basis, CelcomDigi’s net profit rose to RM661.44 million from RM456.19 million in the same period last year.
Revenue, meanwhile, widened to RM6.3 billion from RM3.06 billion previously due to higher device sales and service revenue.
The group declared a second interim dividend of 3.2 sen per share, amounting to RM375 million, scheduled to be paid on Sept 6, 2023.
Strong growth momentum
CelcomDigi said its home fibre segment continues to exhibit growth momentum, which can be observed through the high take-up rate for high-value fibre plans launched in Q1 FY2023.
“The uplift partially cushioned the impact of lower interconnect rate in postpaid and prepaid segments and lower contributions from wholesale partners which led to a service revenue decline of 0.3% to RM2.71 billion,” its filing read.
CelcomDigi had ramped up its integration activities by continuing to invest in network capacity upgrades and IT initiatives to improve customer experience.
The company invested RM252 million in capital expenditure (capex), equivalent to 8.1 % of total revenue in Q2 FY2023, for network capacity upgrades and integration initiatives.
Following the commencement of key projects in June, the company expects its capex to increase in the remaining two quarters of FY2023.
The company has completed 60% of its network integration and modernisation plans for 2023, with more than 2,000 sites in 24 clusters consolidated to-date.
Moving forward, CelcomDigi said it remains focused on delivering top line growth and profitability while pushing ahead with the integration of the company’s networks, IT, and organisation at the same time.
“We remain committed to leading 5G adoption and have put in place initiatives such as the ‘CelcomDigi MY5G CEO’ roundtable series to help businesses realise 5G’s true potential,“ said CEO Idham Nawawi.
He added that the company is looking forward to unlocking more value and benefits of 5G for consumers and businesses.
At market close today, CelcomDigi’s share price was down by 4 sen or 0.9% at RM4.38, giving it a market capitalisation of RM51.3 billion.