Revenue has doubled to RM3.1 billion from RM1.5 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

The rise in earnings was largely driven by higher service revenue and better cost discipline, the group said in a statement today.

CelcomDigi’s service revenue for Q3 FY2023 grew by RM4 million to RM2.71 billion with its subscriber base expanding by 636,000 to 20.6 million.

“The increase in service revenue was contributed by higher solutioning revenue and improved contribution from wholesale business.

“Prepaid, and home and fibre revenues continued to grow on the back of solid subscriber additions and healthy data adoption, as well as the introduction of new high-speed fibre plans and adds-on offerings, respectively during the quarter,” the group said in its local bourse filing.

The group added that its prudent cost management has led to its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) improving 7.2% y-o-y to RM1.5 billion.

“Total cost for Q3 2023 declined 4.5%, or RM72 million, from lower regulatory, staff and network-related costs, as well as sales and marketing spend,” its filing added.

CEO Idham Nawawi commended the group’s encouraging quarterly performance, attributing it to its emphasis on market execution and prudent cost management.

“We are happy with the progress made on overall business integration, and especially in delivering Malaysia’s widest and fastest network through solid delivery of our network integration and modernisation programme.

“Our focus on market execution and prudent cost management contributed to our solid performance this quarter, with subscriber growth from all segments and improvements in profitability margins,” he said.

The company declared a third interim dividend of 3.3 sen per share, amounting to RM387 million.

As at 3.32pm, CelcomDigi’s share price was unchanged at RM4.27, giving it a market capitalisation of RM50.1 billion.