Sri Lanka operator Dialog Axiata Group saw its revenue grow by 4 percent year-on-year to LKR 29.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2019. On the back of revenue growth, group EBITDA jumped 7 percent to LKR 46.7 billion for the twelve months of 2019, but fell 2 percent to LKR 11.7 billion in the three months ended 31 December 2019.
Dialog Axiata also reports that, during the fourth quarter of 2019, the Government of Sri Lanka introduced a relief package that included the elimination and amendment of many taxes. Consumers of telecommunications services benefited from a VAT and Telecommunication Levy reduction, along with the removal of the Nation Building Tax. Accordingly, the indirect tax on Voice services has been revised down to 22.60 percent, while the tax on Data services was reduced to 10.20 percent. These changes entered into force on 1 December 2019.
Dialog Axiata Group net profit after tax jumped 44 percent year-on-year to LKR 10.8 billion in 2019, boosted by EBITDA growth and stable currency, the company said. On a quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year basis, net profit jumped 65 percent and 100 percent, respectively, to LKR 2.4 billion, mainly due to the favorable forex impact.
The company’s board of directors proposed a cash dividend to ordinary shareholders amounting to 53 cents (LKR 0.53) per share totalling LKR 4.3 billion. This dividend, if approved by shareholders, would translate to a payout of 40 percent of consolidated Group net profit after tax for FY 2019 resulting in a dividend yield of 4.3 percent and a total shareholder return of 26.1 percent.
Group capex for the year ended 31 December 2019 amounted to LKR 28.6 billion, down 6 percent from 2018.
At an entity level, Dialog Axiata continued to contribute a major share of group revenue, namely 71 percent, and group EBITDA (76%). Company revenue declined 2 percent to LKR 82.6 billion in 2019, mainly due to the transfer of international wholesale business from Company to its fully owned subsidiary Dialog Broadband Networks (DBN). Fourth-quarter revenue fell 4 percent year-on-year to LKR 20.5 billion. EBITDA reached LKR 35.5 billion for 2019, representing an increase of 17 percent compared to 2018. Fourth-quarter EBITDA climbed 53 percent year-on-year to LKR 8.8 billion. Net profit after tax reached LKR 3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2019, which represents an increase of 62 percent quarter-on-quarter and 100 percent year-on-year.
Dialog Axiata’s Dialog Television (DTV) unit saw its subscriber base grow by 25 percent year-on-year for the year ended 31 December 2019. DTV revenue grew by 17 percent year-to-date to LKR 8.8 billion for FY 2019 while revenue reached LKR 2.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2019, up 18 percent year-on-year. DTV EBITDA jumped 31 percent to LKR 2.4 billion in 2019. DTV net loss dropped to LKR 541 million in 2019, compared to a net loss of LKR 915 million in 2018.
Dialog Broadband Networks (DBN) featuring the Group’s fixed telecom, broadband and international businesses, saw its revenue reach LKR 28.1 billion in 2019, up 64 percent year-to-date, mainly due to the increase in wholesale business revenue. DBN EBITDA fell 23 percent to LKR 9.2 billion in 2019, while net profit declined to LKR 411 million for 2019 from LKR 1.3 billon in 2018.