KUALA LUMPUR: Axiata Group Bhd posted a stronger set of earnings, with net profit up 26% at RM639.12 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2010 from RM503.66 million a year ago.

It said on Wednesday, Nov 24 revenue rose 14.8% to RM3.93 billion from RM3.43 billion while earnings per share were 8.0 sen compared with 6.0 sen.

Axiata Group said the higher revenue was due to Excelcomindo, Celcom and Robi Axiata Ltd.

For the nine-months, continued strong performances across the Group saw revenue up 21% year-to-date to RM11.6 billion. This was primarily led by the robust performances of Celcom2, XL, Dialog and Robi recording a YTD revenue growth of 11%, 32%, 16% and 38% respectively.

This was on the back of robust data business, in Malaysia and Indonesia, and higher active subscribers and usage in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up by 41% in the same period, to RM5.3 billion. Margin improved by 6.3 percentage points to 45.9%, from better margins across all operating companies.

Year-to-date profit after tax, amortization and minority interests almost doubled at RM2.1 billion, up a strong 95% from the previous corresponding period.

"Axiata ended the quarter in a strong financial position, with balance sheet significantly strengthened. Net debt to EBITDA ratio now at 0.7x from 1.9x at end 2009. Strong growth was seen in regional mobile subscribers with a 38% increase year-on-year to 149 million," it said.