JAKARTA, NOVEMBER 7th , 2024 – PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) has successfully continued its profitability growth trend throughout the first nine months of 2024. Despite challenges, the company reported revenue growth of 6% YoY, reaching IDR 25.37 trillion. EBITDA also grew 13% YoY to IDR 13.3 trillion, with an EBITDA margin of 52.4%. Meanwhile, net profit reached IDR 1.33 trillion. During this period, revenue from data and digital services amounted to IDR 23.38 trillion, accounting for approximately 92% of total revenue. XL Axiata management remains optimistic about the future of its Fixed Broadband (FBB) and Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) services, which continue to show very positive growth.
Dian Siswarini, President Director & CEO of XL Axiata, stated, “Throughout the first nine months, particularly in the third quarter of 2024, the national telecommunications industry faced significant challenges, marked by intense competition and weakening consumer purchasing power. However, we have managed to achieve solid performance while maintaining positive profitability growth. The challenges ahead will undoubtedly remain, particularly given Indonesia's economic conditions, which are still affected by global geopolitical factors and weak consumer purchasing power. We will continue to work hard to sustain performance growth in the future, and we are confident in our ability to do so.”
Dian added that XL Axiata will continue to pursue various initiatives to secure reliable new revenue streams for the future. One of these is through home internet services. To this end, XL Axiata continues to drive and accelerate the growth of its FBB home internet service business, which has consistently shown very encouraging potential. Moreover, XL Axiata has also acquired 750,000 First Media customers, bringing its total FBB customer base to more than 1 million subscribers.
Dian mentioned that the incorporation of First Media customers has positioned XL Axiata as Indonesia's second-largest Internet service provider, with an FBB network coverage reaching six million home passed spanning more than 127 cities across various regions in Indonesia. Currently, we are also providing access to diverse entertainment content for our customers as part of our beyond FBB (beyond Fixed Broadband) services and are prepared to advance our convergence services to the next level.
By the end of September 2024, XL Axiata's total customer base continued to grow, reaching 58.6 million, with a blended ARPU of IDR 43 thousand, showing YoY improvement. This increase in blended ARPU aligns with the company’s focus on reaching and keeping productive customers.
Regarding operational costs, XL Axiata has successfully maintained stability. In fact, sales and marketing expenses were reduced compared to the same period last year, thanks to digitalization strategies. Meanwhile, several other cost components, such as interconnection costs and direct expenditures, decreased YoY, although regulatory expenses increased YoY. Overall, operational costs have been kept below revenue growth.
XL Axiata's digital transformation strategy, including enhancing customer experience through the MyXL and AXISNet applications, has proven effective. Both apps have delivered strong results in the first nine months of 2024, with over 32.2 million active users and a Monthly Active User (MAU) growth of 113% since December 2021.
The increasing use of MyXL and AXISNet reflects improved customer experience and monetization through a better understanding of customer needs. The more users engage with both applications, the sharper our predictions become regarding customer trends and behavior. This, in turn, enables us to deliver precisely tailored offers to the right customers at the most opportune moments.
A key to XL Axiata's growth is the continued personalization of offerings and services, a strategy that has been consistently applied throughout these nine months. As a result, the net promoter score (NPS) has significantly increased, driving service usage and ultimately contributing to revenue growth.
The implementation of digital strategies based on data analytics has also allowed XL Axiata to invest in high-value areas and build networks to meet demand across all customer segments. Data analytics enables XL Axiata to evaluate key performance indicators (KPI) related to customers, marketing campaigns, and customer loyalty, allowing the company to devise appropriate strategies to address challenges and seize opportunities in a timely manner.
XL Axiata’s financial position remained healthy as of the end of September 2024, with gross debt recorded at IDR 12.7 trillion and a net debt to EBITDA (including finance lease) ratio of 2.5x. Net debt was reported at IDR 10.9 trillion. XL Axiata has no USD-denominated debt. 47% of existing loans have a floating interest rate, while 53% have a fixed interest rate. Free Cash Flow (FCF) is at a healthy level, increasing by 23% to IDR 7.6 trillion.
XL Axiata also continues to enhance the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) technology to drive revenue growth and operational cost savings for the company. The use of AI is focused on improving customer experience, enhancing the company's operational excellence, and fostering innovation. With AI, XL Axiata is able to provide personalized and instant customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. Additionally, XL Axiata can improve operational efficiency by enabling the automation of various processes, such as sales, service, and customer onboarding.
XL Axiata also leverages AI to extract insights from large data sets. This creates opportunities for new revenue streams, such as offering AI-based solutions to external partners and industries, transforming the company into a technology-driven enterprise.
XL Axiata is actively enhancing network quality as a key support for its convergence services and has successfully improved network performance and customer experience. The company's commitment to strengthening its network is reflected in the allocation of approximately IDR 7 trillion in capital expenditures (Capex), primarily to support network expansion needs.
As of the end of September 2024, XL Axiata's total number of base transceiver stations (BTS) reached 165,094 BTS, including 110,280 units of 4G BTS. The fiber optic network connection (fiberization) reached 62%. This fiberization was undertaken to improve data network quality and prepare for future 5G implementation.
These ongoing investments and network strategies have significantly enhanced the quality of the network experience, supporting increased service usage. This is proved by a service traffic growth of over 10% year-over-year, reaching 7,823 petabytes.