Focus On Increasing Profitability, XL Axiata Net Profit Increases 168 Percent In The First Quarter Of 2024

BTS XL (Photo: dock. XL)

JAKARTA - PT XL Axiata Tbk (EXCL) recorded an increase in revenue of 12 percent to Rp8.44 trillion in the first quarter of 2024. Furthermore, EBITDA rose 24 percent to Rp4.45 trillion and net profit grew 168 percent to Rp547 billion. Meanwhile, the contribution of data and digital service revenues to total revenue reached 93 percent.

XL Axiata President Director & CEO, Dian Siswarini said, in the first quarter of 2024 it was very special because the company managed to achieve positive data revenue compared to the previous quarter in the fourth quarter of 2023 after in the last few years the first quarter was usually flat.

According to Dian, the growth of data revenue in this quarter is inseparable from the company's success in maintaining service prices in the midst of the vibrant momentum of the General Election and Ramadan so that it can increase data traffic.

"In addition, with the total number of quality customers increasing from the fourth quarter of 2023, namely 57.6 million, we have succeeded in encouraging service use so that traffic has also increased by 3.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023 and 18 percent compared to the first quarter of 2023, so that in the end it has contributed to the increase in APPU (average revenue per user) to Rp44 thousand. This figure is the highest APPU ever achieved by XL Axiata to date. ) in its official statement, Monday, April 29.

Dian added that the achievement of performance in the first quarter of 2024 is also inseparable from the company's success in optimizing operational costs (OPEX), including reducing operating costs to lower. Total operating costs were reduced by 8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.

Dian added that there was a significant reduction in operating costs on sales and marketing expenses and infrastructure costs.

Dian said that the decrease in sales and marketing expenses was also driven by the increase in the use of digital facilities for the MyXL and AXISnet applications.

According to Dian, the increasing use of MyXL and AXISnet shows the two applications are able to improve a better customer experience, as well as provide a deeper understanding of customer needs, preferences and behavior.

"This makes XL Axiata able to provide appropriate offers to the right customers, at the right time it is also more effective. Until the end of March 2024, both applications have a total active user per month of up to 30.3 million. The increase in the number of active users per month of myXL and AXISnet has reached 99 percent in the last two years," he explained.

Dian conveyed that XL Axiata's performance improvement during the first three months of 2024 was also inseparable from the increasing performance of convergence services.

As for convergence services, during the first quarter of 2024, the convergence network has reached 102 cities/districts with a convergence penetration rate of 79 percent and a total number of customers reaching 252 thousand, which means it shows increasing demand for FMC XL One products.

Meanwhile, regarding convergence services, the company is also still running the Structural Transformation process, including plans to transfer around 750,000 Link Net subscribers to XL Axiata as ServeCo.

Dian said that in the future, this will open up opportunities to increase cross selling so that it can enlarge and accelerate the Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) service.

"Then the company can also increase synergy with Link Net as FibreCo so that it can be more efficient and fast to respond to fixed broadband market needs. It also contributes to improving the quality of customer experience that is sustainable," he said.

Dian conveyed that in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the company uses AI to open up new opportunities in the very dynamic telecommunications industry landscape.

In addition, Dian said the company has implemented AI to improve customer experience, including in personalization of services and development as well as product recommendations according to customer needs, improving the accuracy of BTS sites, and to improve operational efficiency, including process optimization and reduction of manual processes.

"One of the keys to XL Axiata's growth is the personalization of supply and services. As a result, net promoter score (NPS) data is increasing significantly, thus encouraging the use of services and ultimately also helping to increase revenue. This strategy will still be implemented throughout 2024," he explained.

Dian conveyed that the results of implementing digital-based strategies through data analytics also allowed XL Axiata to invest in high-value areas and build networks, including to meet demand from all customer segments.

"With this analytic data, it also allows XL Axiata to evaluate key performance indicators (KPI) in all aspects related to customers, marketing campaigns, and customer loyalty, so that companies can design the right strategy to face challenges and opportunities at the right time," he said.

Dian conveyed that in terms of infrastructure, XL Axiata is also still building networks throughout the first three months of 2024. Therefore, the number of BTS increased 9.6 percent (YoY) to a total of 163,106 units, including 107,906 units of 4G BTS, with a level of connection with the fiber optic network reaching 62 percent (fiberized).

Technically, Dian said that fiberization is an effort to modernize the network by connecting BTS through the fiber route, including regenerating BTS devices.

"For example, by replacing the device that has been using the microwave into a fiber device. Fiberization is done to improve the quality of the data network and in preparation for the implementation of 5G in the future," he said.

According to Dian, the company is committed to making efforts to improve network quality as the main support for efforts to increase customer experience.

Meanwhile, XL Axiata's commitment to strengthening the network is reflected in the allocation of capital expenditures (Capex) of IDR 8 trillion this year. XL Axiata also continues its network development investment initiatives carefully to be able to encourage improved service quality and increase the use of growing networks.