KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 20): CelcomDigi Bhd, Malaysia’s biggest wireless carrier by subscribers, is now focusing on average revenue per account (ARPA) instead of average revenue per user (ARPU) mainly for its postpaid plan, its top executive said on Tuesday.

Prioritising ARPA would allow CelcomDigi to increase the overall revenue from its existing accounts, chief executive officer Datuk Idham Nawawi said at an earnings briefing. The company will also be able to assess total revenue from the whole cohort of customers, he noted.

“It will come to a point where the market has reached a certain level that [revenue from] every new customer that we bring in will be lower,” Idham said. “So now we are growing and expanding the base.”

Earlier in the day, CelcomDigi reported that 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.

CelcomDigi deputy CEO Albern Murty said the average revenue per account approach aims to retain existing customers as well as to encourage them to subscribe to a broader range of services offered. (Photo by Shahrill Basri/The Edge)

Blended ARPU was RM42 while its subscribers base grew about 466,000 in 2023 alone, bringing its total subscribers to 20.6 million as of FY2023.

Additionally, CelcomDigi deputy CEO Albern Murty said the ARPA approach aims to retain existing customers as well as to encourage them to subscribe to a broader range of services offered.

“The total account is either on family lines plan or home fibre plan, this is how we see the ARPA growth,” he said.

Shares in CelcomDigi settled up four sen or 0.92% to RM4.37 on Tuesday, giving the telco a market capitalisation of RM51.27 billion.