Photo by Zahid Izzani/The Edge

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 20): CelcomDigi Bhd, Malaysia’s largest wireless carrier by subscribers, said on Tuesday its net profit more than tripled in the fourth quarter of 2023 following its merger but flagged higher costs ahead.

Net profit for the three months ended Dec 31 was RM435.11 million compared to RM127.36 million over the same period the prior year, CelcomDigi said in a stock exchange filing. Revenue for the quarter surged 50% year-on-year to RM3.27 billion from RM2.18 billion.

“Looking ahead to 2024, the company remains steadfast to expediting the network integration and modernisation initiatives,” CelcomDigi said. The company flagged “higher integration costs” as it is embarking on what it said would be a “transformative journey” for its operating models.

For 2024, CelcomDigi guided for a “low single digit” increase in service revenue growth while earnings before interest and tax would grow at “similar level to 2023”. The company also planned 15%-18% in capital expenditure as a proportion to its total revenue.

The company declared a fourth interim dividend of 3.5 sen per share, bringing the total dividend to 13.2 sen per share for the year.

For the full year, net profit was RM1.55 billion, 83% higher than RM848.03 million recorded in FY2022. Revenue climbed 87% to RM12.68 billion from RM6.77 billion.

Service revenue was RM10.86 billion with blended average revenue per user of RM42 and the company spent RM1.75 billion, or 13.8% of revenue.

CelcomDigi said it completed 35% of its network integration-and-modernisation target, ahead of its initial plan of 30% by end-2023.