Kuala Lumpur, 8 September 2025 — Malaysia’s telecommunications sector showed mixed results in the second quarter of 2025, with Maxis delivering robust earnings growth, while CelcomDigi leveraged merger synergies to strengthen both top-line and margins. Analysts from CIMB remain bullish on the sector’s future.
Maxis Holds Steady with Profits Up Despite Soft Revenue
Maxis posted a 4.6% year-on-year rise in EBITDA to RM1.094 billion, accompanied by an 11.8% increase in net profit (PAT) to RM398 million, showcasing sharp cost discipline even as service revenue slipped slightly (–0.5% YoY to RM2.204 billion) due to revised commercial agreements and lower interconnect charges.
Subscriber growth remains resilient, with the mobile base rising 2.8%, and improvements in home fibre and enterprise segments underpinning a full free cash flow of RM929 million. Capex of RM165 million went toward expanding fibre infrastructure and mobile network upgrades, while the company declared a four-sen interim dividend.
Maxis Strategy: Defensive and Dividend-Focused
Maxis’s results reflect the ethos of a defensively managed telco: consistent margins, sustainable dividends, and selective investment in core infrastructure—all designed to deliver reliability without taking undue risk.
CelcomDigi Gains Ground with Scale and Integration
In contrast, CelcomDigi—the newly merged entity formed by Celcom and Digi—reported revenue growth of approximately 2.3% (about RM3.1 billion), while EBIT grew 12.3% and PAT rose 5.5%, benefiting from operational synergies, network integration, and improved cost efficiencies.
Key performance drivers include:
- Postpaid subscriptions up 5.8%, ARPU RM107
- Home & Fibre segment revenue up 45.2%, with 95,000 new connections
- Enterprise solutions grew 10.3%, underpinned by digital offerings
Integration—84% complete—plus Gen-AI customer tools and transformed retail operations allowed CelcomDigi to declare a 3.8-sen dividend, signaling confidence in continued scale gains.
CelcomDigi Strategy: Aggressive, Growth-Oriented
The telco is capitalising on the merger to build volume-based strength; its growth play is backed by expanding product lines, subscriber bundling, and enterprise solutions, positioning it for future ARPU expansion.
Analyst View: CIMB Remains Overweight
CIMB Securities continues to maintain an ‘Overweight’ rating on the Malaysian telco sector, citing improvements in network coverage and service quality. Quality of service (QoS) indicators, such as 4G speeds at 34 Mbps and 5G at 228 Mbps, remain well above regulatory standards.
Their preferred picks include:
- Maxis – Target: RM4.15
- CelcomDigi – Target: RM4.10
- Telekom Malaysia – Target: RM7.55
- Axiata – Target: RM2.55
Sector resilience is grounded in digital infrastructure investments under initiatives like JENDELA, though CIMB notes continued ESG risks related to service gaps and compliance.
