TM Shines Amidst Unexciting Earnings Season
MBSB Investment Bank Bhd (MBSB Research) has maintained a NEUTRAL stance on the telecommunication sector, citing largely in-line nine-month financial results for 2025, with Telekom Malaysia (TM) as the notable outlier.
The research house expects cost discipline to be critical in driving profitability, given limited avenues for revenue growth.
Celcomdigi (CDB) remains a BUY, though earnings risks persist, particularly with higher stakes in Digital National Bhd (DNB).
According to MBSB Research, TM’s better-than-expected results were largely due to a lower effective tax rate from a reassessment of deferred tax provisions, with nine-month normalised earnings accounting for 86% of full-year forecasts.
Celcomdigi’s postpaid segment continued to expand, with a 5.3% year-on-year increase in subscribers and average revenue per user holding at RM60 a month.
Maxis saw postpaid growth of 3.2% year-on-year, though its postpaid ARPU fell slightly to RM70.8 a month.
MBSB Research noted Maxis’ mobile revenue remains weighted toward postpaid subscribers at 60.7%, compared with CDB at 48.4%.
Home fibre revenue showed mixed performance, with CDB up 40.8% year-on-year to 260,000 subscribers, while Maxis and TM grew marginally to 788,000 and 3.2 million subscribers respectively.
MBSB Research highlighted that growth in TM’s home fibre segment may be constrained following the completion of Jendela Phase 1, though convergence plans and value-added services could support expansion.
Enterprise revenue continues to challenge telcos, with Maxis posting a 3.3% year-on-year increase, supported by enterprise mobile and fixed solutions, while TM and CDB saw declines of 4.8% and 5.5% respectively.
MBSB Research emphasised the importance of cost management, noting Maxis’ profit growth was underpinned by productivity improvements, network optimisation and digitalisation, whereas CDB faced higher cost of goods sold and credit losses.
