Bangkok--26 Feb--PR FOCUS
True Corporation PLC (SET: TRUE) reported growth in service revenue and EBITDA for the full year 2009. TrueMove, delivered strong results, Broadband continued to grow well while mass-market success and the start of paid advertising at TrueVisions all helped True to weather challenging conditions. In addition, True’s convergence strategy progressed further, boosting subscribers across the Group.
In 2009, consolidated service revenue, excluding interconnection charges or IC, increased 1.3% to Baht 52.6 billion with growth from all three key businesses. Higher revenue, significantly lower net IC payments and increased sales of handsets such as iPhone saw EBITDA grow 5.8% to Baht 19.6 billion. Meanwhile cost control also helped to stabilize EBITDA margin.
FY09 group net income from ongoing operations (NIOGO) increased by Baht 223 million to Baht 511 million after excluding deferred income tax. Bottom-line profit was Baht 1.2 billion in 2009 compared to a net loss of Baht 2.4 billion in 2008 mainly on the strong Baht.
True President and CEO Suphachai Chearavanont said, “True progressed in numerous areas in 2009 despite challenging conditions. Group revenues grew in line with our expectations while TrueMove’s strong performance deserves special mention.”
“True’s convergence strategy also continued to develop with the number of households using multiple True products increasing 23.3% in 2009 to over 2.3 million and strong growth in key bundling packages. In addition, subscribers to the TrueVisions-TrueMove bundling package passed the one million mark during the year.”
At TrueMove FY09 service revenue (excluding IC) increased 3.4% to Baht 23.6 billion driven by strong postpaid and non-voice revenue growth of 17.8% and 17.0%, respectively. In addition, a Baht 813 million reduction in net IC payment made a significant contribution to the 27.0% rise in EBITDA to Baht 7.2 billion. The successful launch of the iPhone 3G and 3GS with 100,000 units sold during the year also supported non-voice growth. TrueMove ended the year with 15.8 million subscribers, an increase of 1 million from 2008 which accounted for almost one third of market net adds.
During 2009 service revenue at TrueOnline rose 1.5% from 2008 to Baht 26.4 billion, mainly on growth in Broadband, convergence and new businesses such as International Direct Dialing (IDD) and the Internet gateway. Broadband recorded 11.4% revenue growth (to Baht 5.5 billion). Despite intensifying competition in the Bangkok area Broadband subscribers increased 9.2% to over 690,000 with strong growth in Q4. Meanwhile, Wi-Fi subscribers more than doubled in 2009 to some 263,000.
TrueVisions’ service revenue grew 1.1% to Baht 9.5 billion on the strength of its mass-market strategy and the start of paid advertising. Mass-market success also helped drive subscriber numbers 13.2% higher for the full year to 1.7 million. Meanwhile, the rate of subscribers upgrading to higher packages (upselling) grew to 38.5%.
Group deleveraging continued following repayment of Baht 6.8 billion in 2009. Long-term debt fell to Baht 68 billion, the lowest level since the 1997 Asian Crisis. The net debt-to-EBITDA ratio also declined further, to 3.1 times compared with 3.7 times a year ago.
True Group CFO Noppadol Dej-Udom said, “Our credit profile improved significantly over the year. Despite a turbulent 2009 True was able to raise Baht 19.6 billion reflecting trust among investors in both bond and equity markets. A recapitalization in early 2009 strengthened the balance sheet by raising Baht 6.4 billion while two Baht-bond issues were extremely well received, raising Baht 13.2 billion. Further improving our credit profile remains top of our priority list going forward.”
Looking forward to 2010, Mr Suphachai said, “On a Group-wide basis we will build on the strong momentum from 2009 by leveraging our convergence strategy to grow revenues while carefully managing costs to enhance profitability.
“TrueMove’s strong performance should continue despite the delays to 3G on 2.1 GHz. We will continue to prepare for the commercial launch of 3G services on 850 MHz while growing non-voice revenues. For TrueOnline, we seek to maintain Broadband leadership in Bangkok and boost our presence in key provinces. We will also expand the high-end Broadband market by providing ultra hi-speed 30Mbps service. Meanwhile, at TrueVisions we plan to maintain momentum in the mass market and grow advertising revenues while enhancing viewer experience through increased content.”