Maxis falls to all-time low of RM3.42

KUALA LUMPUR (June 9): Shares in Maxis Bhd hit an all-time low of RM3.42 on Thursday (June 9) against the backdrop of broad-based selling on Bursa Malaysia.

It was not immediately clear if there were other reasons for the counter’s decline.

The stock opened unchanged at RM3.52 and went on to fall, closing 10 sen or 2.84% lower.

At RM3.42, the telco is valued at RM26.77 billion.

Since the beginning of the year, the stock has fallen by 29.31%.

Last month, Malaysia’s four biggest telcos — Celcom Axiata Bhd, DiGi Telecommunications, Maxis Bhd and U Mobile — sought a majority stake in state-owned 5G agency Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), countering a proposal by the government to offer them minority ownership.

In a letter sent to the Ministry of Finance, the four dominant players also sought a review of the pricing model and network access plan offered by DNB.

The objections to the government's proposal, which offered up to 70% of the country's sole 5G network operator spread among a wider group of companies, is expected to raise the risk of delays as the government aims to conclude discussions on the stake sales by end-June.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2022, Maxis posted a lower net profit of RM298 million compared with RM334 million a year ago, mainly from the spectrum rights amortization.

Quarterly revenue improved 7.4% to RM2.41 billion from RM2.24 billion. Service revenue rose 3% to RM2.03 billion from RM1.97 billion a year ago, on the back of better contributions from postpaid, home connectivity and enterprise business.