KUALA LUMPUR: Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) posted a net profit of RM218.6mil in the second quarter ended June 30 (2Q21) against RM274.74mil posted in the same period last year.

       The lower earnings was mainly due to a RM3.1mil foreign exchange loss on borrowings in the current quarter compared to a RM19.2mil gain in corresponding quarter last year.

       Its operating revenue increased 6.6% to RM2.76bil in the second quarter

       compared to RM2.59bil in the same quarter last year with increase in revenue for all services apart from non-telecommunication related services.

       TM reported operating profits before finance cost of RM382mil, 8.6% lower from the RM418mil a year earlier mainly from increase in operating costs which included provisions recognised as part of the group’s manpower optimisation initiatives.

       TM’s board of directors has declared an interim single-tier cash dividend of 7.0 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31.

       The proposed dividend will be paid on Sept 30 to shareholders and the entitlement date is on Sept 14.

       In the first six months to June 30 (1H21), TM’s net profit rose 27.3% to RM544mil from RM427.26mil a year ago, while revenue climbed to RM5.57bil compared to RM5.14bil previously.

       Managing director and group CEO Imri Mokhtar said: “I am pleased to report that we have recorded a solid performance in the first half of the year and we are on track to meet our 2021 targets in line with market guidance.

       “Coming off an exceptional first quarter, we recorded notable improvements in our 1H21 revenue and profitability against the same period last year.”

       “This was driven by higher revenue achieved by all of our customer segments – unifi, TM ONE & TM Wholesale and better cost efficiency. The current nationwide movement control order (MCO) has certainly influenced our business landscape and customer operations, but we are delighted with the momentum of our value programmes and the commitment of our frontliners,” he added.

       Imri said TM was making solid progress and gaining good traction with its ‘New TM’ Transformation Program (2021-2023).

       “Based on the current momentum, TM is on track to achieve our 2021 targets and market guidance,” he said.

       TM said unifi recorded a 9.9% increase in revenue to RM2.46bil in 1H21 from RM2.24bil in 1H20, mainly from Internet and multimedia services as well as voice with the highest increase in broadband subscribers recorded over the last six months.

       TM ONE recorded a 2.5% increase in revenue from RM1.88bil to

       RM1.93bil in the current financial period contributed by data and customer projects under other telecommunication related services amidst decline in usage based revenue from voice as well as internet which were affected by bandwidth downgrade and lower usage during the extended MCO period.

       TM Wholesale registered revenue of RM1.22bil for the current financial period, 18.7% higher than the RM1.02bil reported in the corresponding six months period a year ago.