Jakarta, Mei 6th 2025. PT XLSMART Telecom Sejahtera Tbk (XLSMART) announced the pre-merger performance results of XL Axiata for the first quarter of 2025. Despite ongoing economic and industry challenges, XL Axiata successfully delivered a positive performance at the start of the year. In Q1 2025, the company recorded total revenue of IDR 8.6 trillion, marking a 2% increase compared to the same period last year (YoY). EBITDA reached IDR 4.32 trillion with an EBITDA margin of 50.2%, while net profit after tax (PAT) stood at IDR 388 billion. Meanwhile, revenue contribution from data and digital services accounted for over 91% of the total revenue.
President Director & CEO of XLSMART, Rajeev Sethi, stated,“ Throughout the first quarter of 2025, we faced significant challenges, including increasingly intense competition, weakened consumer purchasing power, and reduced public mobility during the lead-up to the Eid holidays. In addition, we had to concentrate our efforts on finalizing the business merger process with Smartfren. Despite these challenges, we are grateful that we were still able to deliver strong performance achieving positive growth in line with industry trends, maintaining profitability, and successfully completing the merger process as planned".
Rajeev added, this solid performance was driven by stable growth in our mobile business, supported by a strategy focused on Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). We successfully increased our mobile customer base by 1.2 million year on year. Meanwhile, our Fixed Broadband (FBB) customer base also remained steady, reaching over 1 million subscribers. These are key factors that continue to support and strengthen the growth of our FMC business both now and in the future.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2025, XL Axiata total customer base reached 58.8 million, with a blended Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) remaining stable at around IDR 40,000. This blended ARPU reflects the company’s continued focus on acquiring and retaining productive customers.
In term of the operational cost, XL Axiata managed to maintain stability despite an overall increase in expenses. Sales and marketing costs were successfully reduced and optimized compared to the same period last year, driven by the implementation of digitalization strategies. However, certain cost components experienced a year-over-year increase, including interconnection fees, other direct expenses, and regulatory costs. Overall, the company was able to keep operational expense growth below the rate of revenue growth on a YoY basis.
Furthermore, XL Axiata digital transformation strategy — including the enhancement of customer experience through the MyXL and AXISNet applications — continues to demonstrate strong effectiveness. Both apps delivered solid results during the first three months of 2025, with over 35.7 million active users recorded. Monthly Active Users (MAU) grew by 18% year-over-year, reflecting increasing customer engagement.
The usage of MyXL and AXISNet continues to reflect an improvement in customer experience and monetization by XL Axiata, driven by a better understanding of customer needs. As the usage of both applications increases, it sharpens the ability to predict customer trends and behaviors, enabling more accurate and timely offers to the right customers at the right time. Both MyXL and AXISNet saw a 21% increase in revenue contribution, partially driven by the launch of the XL Circle feature within the MyXL app.
One of the key drivers of XL Axiata growth is the continued personalization of offerings and services. This strategy has been consistently applied over the past three months. As a result, the net promoter score (NPS) has shown significant improvement, which in turn has driven service usage and ultimately contributed to increased revenue.
The implementation of a digital strategy based on data analytics has also enabled XL Axiata to invest in high-value areas and build networks, including meeting the demands of all customer segments. Through data analytics, XL Axiata can evaluate key performance indicators (KPIs) across all aspects related to customers, marketing campaigns, and customer loyalty, allowing the company to design the right strategies to address challenges and opportunities at the right time.
XL Axiata financial position remained strong as of the first quarter of 2025, with gross debt recorded at IDR 13.1 trillion and a net debt to EBITDA (including finance leases) ratio of 2.51x. Net debt stood at IDR 11.6 trillion. XL Axiata has no USD-denominated debt. Of the current loans, 64% are at floating interest rates and 36% are at fixed rates. Free Cash Flow (FCF) is at a healthy level, with a 28% increase, reaching IDR 3.08 trillion.
Network Performance Continues to Improve
XL Axiata continues to enhance network quality as a key pillar supporting its convergence services and has successfully improved both network performance and customer experience. ABC’s commitment to strengthening its network is reflected in its capital expenditure (Capex) of approximately IDR 1.24 trillion, the majority of which was allocated to network expansion and quality improvements.
As of the end of the first quarter of 2025, XL Axiata operated over 164,000 base transceiver stations (BTS), including 4G BTS. The number of 4G BTS increased by 7% compared to the same period last year, with 63% of BTS locations now connected to fiber optic networks (fiberized). These continued network investments and strategies have resulted in enhanced network quality to support higher service usage. This is evident in the service traffic growth of more than 9% year-over-year, reaching 2,848 Petabytes.
XL Axiata Officially Merged with Smartfren to Become XLSMART
PT XL Axiata Tbk, PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk, and PT Smart Telecom have officially merged into a new entity, PT XLSMART Telecom Sejahtera Tbk ("XLSMART" or "IDX: EXCL"), effective as of April 16, 2025. This historic milestone marks the beginning of a new chapter in Indonesia’s digital era, with XLSMART poised to redefine connectivity, drive innovation, and elevate customer experiences across the archipelago. With a combined market share of 25%, pro forma projected revenue of IDR 45.8 trillion, and a customer base exceeding 94.5 million, XLSMART is targeting to become Indonesia’s most loved company by 2027.
XLSMART aspires to connect every Indonesian for a better life. By uniting the complementary strengths of XL Axiata and Smartfren under one leadership and a shared vision, XLSMART is set to lead Indonesia’s digital transformation journey. The company will continue to operate its leading brands XL, AXIS, and Smartfren to serve mobile and home broadband customers, while also supporting SMEs and corporate clients through XLSMART for Business. With over 94.5 million customers, every connection matters, and we remain committed to delivering reliable, inclusive, and transformative services.