AXIATA working on new dividend policy

Axiata Group Bhd is working on a new dividend payout policy, which is expected to be announced by end of the third quarter this year.

"We are at present working on the proposal to the board," its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim said today.

The group, he said, hoped to be able to offer both growth and dividends to its shareholders and investors in future.

"We are a growth stock and not a dividend stock company.
Therefore, we have not be given out dividends," he told reporters after the company's 18th annual general meeting here.

The group turned free cash-flow positive for the first time, up 265.2 per cent to RM2.1 billion for financial year ended Dec 31, 2009, Jamaludin said.

"Therefore, annual group operation can sustain annual capital expenditure. On top of that, we have RM3.5 billion on the balance sheet and at the end of the first quarter we have up to RM4.5 billion cash," he said.

Group revenue grew 15.5 per cent to RM13.1 billion, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 18.4 per cent to RM5.2 billion, with margin improvement up from 38.4 per cent to 39.3 per cent.

This came from good performances from its operations, particularly from Malaysia (Celcom), Indonesia (XL) and Bangladesh (Robi), with both XL and Robi showing net profit after losses in 2008.

At the end of 2009, the group's total subscriber base expanded to 120.0 million, up 34.4 per cent from a year ago, making it one of the largest mobile groups in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Jamaludin said the group had allocated about RM3.6 billion for capital expenditure this year.

He said about RM1 billion annual capital expenditure guidance was estimated for Celcom, US$500 million for XL and the remainder for operations in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Overall, Jamaludin said, the group was expected to improve its EBITDA margin over the next few years.

"In case of Malaysia we believe that we can maintain the mid-40 margin, despite competition and price pressure," he said. -- Bernama