In a Bursa Malaysia filing today, the telecommunications company said the slight decline in profit was due to cost optimisation initiatives aimed at improving operational efficiency.

Revenue for the quarter rose 1.5% to RM2.44 billion from RM2.41 billion a year ago, propelled by a 1.8% increase in service revenue.

In a separate statement, Maxis highlighted the positive revenue growth of its consumer and enterprise business segments.

“Maxis’s consumer business grew steadily, with postpaid revenue increasing by 6.3% y-o-y. Home connectivity registered another quarter of double-digit subscriber growth rate, contributed by strong fibre demand,” the statement read.

Its enterprise business segment also maintained an upward momentum as revenue grew by 6.4% y-o-y, supported by fixed and mobile solutions revenue.

“The company continues to leverage the potential of its enterprise offerings to benefit businesses of all sizes, including championing the government’s small-medium enterprise grant programme,” it added.

The telco’s postpaid segment boasted an 8% increase in subscribers, hitting 3.53 million and contributing RM882 million in revenue for the quarter.

Home connectivity also showed promising growth with a 7.4% revenue boost and 78,000 more connections compared to the same quarter last year.

The group announced a third interim dividend of four sen per share, scheduled for payment on Dec 21.

This brings the total dividends declared year-to-date to 12 sen, down from the 15 sen declared in the first nine months of the 2022 fiscal year (9M FY2022).

For 9M FY2023, net profit was up 1.95% y-o-y at RM937 million from RM919 million. Cumulative revenue inched up 2.8% to RM7.43 billion, from RM7.23 billion a year ago.

“I am pleased that we delivered stable growth during the quarter in an intensely competitive operating environment,” said Maxis CEO Goh Seow Eng.

“We are seeing good take-up of our recently launched 5G and new fibre plans. Our top priority is to focus on operational excellence and we remain firmly committed to meeting all our customers’ connectivity needs,” he added.

At 4.32pm, Maxis’s share price was up by one sen or 0.25% at RM4.04, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM31.64 billion.