Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison delivers on merger proposition
Indonesia's second largest telco lived up to its reputation in its first reporting quarter as a merged entity.
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) – formed in a $6 billion deal – posted a 48% increase in total revenue year on year, reaching IDR10,873 billion, with president, director and CEO Vikram Sinha commenting that the firm is "delivering upon the merger proposition that we envisioned".
Sinha said: “On behalf of our entire team, I am pleased to share our strong financial and operational performance that we have achieved at the start of 2022. These results reflect that we are delivering upon the merger proposition that we envisioned for IOH. Our enhanced scale, financial strength and capabilities will enable us to accelerate Indonesia’s economic growth and transformation into a digital society. We are committed to continue to provide innovative products, integrate our network, and put customer experience at the core of our operation.”
Further, the customers base saw 34.6 million additions over the last 12 months to reach 94.6 million year on year, while data traffic grew 98.5% year on year.
By the end of 2025 IOH plans to strengthen its network infrastructure with an additional 11,400 new sites and expand network coverage to 7,660 new villages throughout the country.
KPN core profit up 4.5%
KPN saw core profit and revenue increase in Q1, with a further rise in core earnings forecast to year end.
Unaudited group figures for Q1 2022 compared to 2021, showed a 1.6% rise in adjusted revenue, 24% increase in operating profit 27% increase in net profit and a 20% reduction in capex.
In wholesale, KPN saw a continuation of current trends and the fibre roll out continues to schedule. KPN added 75,000 FTTH points – 111,000 when considering Glaspoort. Fibre additions weren't quite as strong as last quarter, however, with 14,000 broadband lines added compared to 21,000 in Q4, and 26,000 net postpaid additions, compared to 29,000 in Q4.
CEO Joost Farwerck, said: “SME continued to do well, providing momentum and confidence that we can stabilise the total Business segment service revenues by the end of this year. In consumer, fibre and our converged portfolio are delivering revenue growth every quarter. Mobile service revenues are growing and fixed service revenues are stabilizing year-on-year.
"Wholesale continued to make a strong contribution, thanks to our successful open wholesale access policy. We recently proposed to amend the wholesale offering for our open fiber network to ensure access to superfast internet at accessible pricing for Dutch households now and in the future. This offer creates long-term certainty for KPN and all market parties," Farwerck continued.
The envy of its peers, KPN cut its opex to the tune of €8 million over the quarter.
KPN didn't specifically detail its ESG gains – read on to find out who did – however Farwerck did mention KPN's recent recognition in the Sustainable Brand Index.
His statement continued: "I appreciate the dedication and resilience of our people and their commitment to deliver the best experience for our customers, as evidenced by continuing NPS growth. I am pleased that our sustainability achievements and ambitions are recognised and appreciated by Dutch consumers and that KPN has again been chosen by the Sustainable Brand Index as the most sustainable Dutch telecom brand.”
Merged Milicom sees 40% revenue boost
Another merger-fresh player in Q1 is Milicom, which acquired full control of Tigo Guatemala in November in a $2.2 billion deal.
It saw revenue increase 40.9% year on year, mainly driven by the consolidation of the Guatemala business.
Service revenue (non-IFRS) saw organic growth of 4.6%, while net profit climbed to $23 million – or $0.23 per share – and operating profit increased 126.3% year-on-year to $234 million.
Mobile postpaid net additions finished at 320,000 – of which 259,000 were in Colombia – driving the customer base 27% higher. Home fibre net additions of 74,000, boosted subscriber growth by 8.4%.
CEO Mauricio Ramos said: "We are off to a strong start in 2022, with operating and financial results ahead of our plans. Our Mobile business performed particularly well, especially in Colombia, where we have added one million postpaid subscribers over the past 12 months, implying growth of more than 50% in the country, and puts us well on track toward achieving the scale we need to sustain higher levels of profitability in that market over the long term."
The B2B segment saw its fastest growth of the last three years at 5%.
Ramos said: "We have simplified our product set around clear customer segments, and we have invested to develop the technical sales capabilities needed to meet the strong demand for cloud and other digital services."
The focus moving forwards will fall on Tigo Money and the infrastructure businesses.
STC's top line exceeds 8%
STC – which unveiled a new operating model earlier this week – reported gains across the board.
It saw top line growth of 8.3% for the first quarter when compared to last year, supported by "exceptional performance from the Enterprise business unit", according to CEO Olayan Mohammed Alwetaid.
That unit saw revenues climb 16.3% due to public and private sector demand.
The consumer business unit registered a top-line growth of 5.9%, supported by the growth in FTTH subscribers by 4.4%, FWA subscribers by 8.3%, and working lines by 4.6%.
The Wholesale business unit also "contributed positively" registering 7.8% revenue growth, supported by a 20.6% growth in its international revenues.
Alwetaid said: "We are proud of the achievements accomplished by stc Group so far to enable the digital transformation of the kingdom. In stc, we will continue to commit to be a vital resource for the national economy and a major enabler of digital transformation according to the KSA Vision 2030 goals, looking forward to a bright future for the ICT sector."
T-Mobile US reports on planet and profit
Over at T-Mobile reporting season is about more than money.
Declaring its "two-year merger anniversary", T-Mobile reported a 7% year on year increase in service revenue, postpaid up 9%, and net income of $713 million. Its Q1 performance was "fuelled by 5G network leadership" and total customer additions reached 1.4 million across all services taking the total customer count to a "record-high" of 109.5 million.
“T-Mobile continues to be the growth leader in this industry, with another beat and raise quarter that delivered front-of-the-pack postpaid, new account, and broadband customer results,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile.
“Only the Un-carrier’s unparalleled network leadership in the 5G era has enabled us to give customers the best network and best value without compromise, and effectively solve one of the most prevalent pain points in the wireless industry. And we are accomplishing this while advancing our integration and delivering bigger synergies faster than expected. I’m excited to carry our momentum forward through the rest of the year.”
However, unlike others, T-Mobile also took the chance to report on its environmental performance and ESG work, claiming the title of "first US wireless provider to set science-based targets" (SBTs) for its emissions.
By the end of 2021 – four years ahead of target – T-Mobile had reduced combined absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 97% and Scope 3 GHG emissions by 16% per T-Mobile customer.
On ESG, earlier this month T-Mobile joined the Welcome.US CEO Council, a public-private partnership committed to welcoming refugees to the United States with essential services, skills and employment. It will provide up to 200,000 lines of free service from Metro by T-Mobile, including unlimited talk and text, to newcomers from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
