Jakarta, 10 May 2023. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) has successfully passed the first quarter of 2023 with strong financial performance. Apart from that, XL Axiata also continues to promote convergence services as a promising future product. In terms of revenue achievement during the first quarter of 2023, XL Axiata managed to achieve a total revenue of IDR 7.55 trillion, growing by 12% higher than the same period last year (YoY). Data and digital service revenues reach IDR 6.91 trillion, or around 91.5% of total revenue.
All of these growths had a positive impact on EBITDA which grew 13% YoY with 47% margins, to IDR. 3.58 trillion. Apart from that, XL Axiata also recorded growth in net profit after tax (PAT), which amounted to IDR 204 billion.
President Director & CEO of XL Axiata, Dian Siswarini said, “The first quarter of every year is always full of challenges and not easy. However, we were able to prove that in the first quarter of 2023, we were able to record quite strong financial performance with double-digit growth in revenue, EBITDA, and PAT YoY. Of course, all of this is the result of our hard work on every front, especially in presenting the best customer experience which is supported by the continuous supply of products and qualified network quality."
XL Axiata closed the first quarter of 2023 with a total of 57.9 million subscribers, with the achievement of blended ARPU (average revenue per user) which also increased from IDR. 36 thousand in the same period the previous year to IDR. 40 thousand. The increase in blended ARPU is certainly in line with the company's focus on acquiring and retaining productive customers. In addition, the digital transformation strategy 2.0 implemented by XL Axiata, including developing customer experience through the MyXL and AXISNet applications, has proven to be effective. The two applications have delivered very strong results until the first quarter of 2023. It is recorded that more than 26 million customers are actively using MyXL and AXISNet, with Monthly Active User (MAU) growth reaching 47%YoY.
This level of usage for MyXL and AXISNet will further enhance the customer experience and monetization by XL Axiata through a better understanding of customer needs. More users on both apps will sharpen predictions about upcoming trends and customer behavior, and make it possible to deliver the right offers to the right customers, at the right time.
One of the keys to XL Axiata's growth is the personalization of offers and services. This strategy will continue to be implemented throughout the first quarter of 2023. As a result, net promoter score (NPS) data continued to increase significantly thereby encouraging service usage and ultimately also helping to increase revenue.
The results of implementing a digital-based strategy through data analytics have also enabled XL Axiata to invest in high-value areas and build networks, including to meet demands from all customer segments. Data analytics also allows XL Axiata to evaluate KPIs (key performance indicators) in all aspects related to customers, marketing campaigns, and customer loyalty so that the company can design the right strategy to face challenges and opportunities at the right time.
Network Performance Continues to Increase
On the network side, XL Axiata continues the initiatives to increase the network quality after successfully guiding XL Axiata to close 2022 with wins in four independent Opensignal survey categories for the December 2022 period. XL Axiata is the best among all Indonesian operators in the category of download speed experience, video experience, game experience, and voice app experience.
XL Axiata's seriousness in strengthening the network is also reflected in the allocation of the majority of IDR 8 trillion in capital expenditure funds (Capex) to support network expansion needs. As of the end of March 2023, the total number of XL Axiata BTS has reached 147,516, with a total of 94,380 thousand units of 4G BTS. The growing number of 4G BTS is 12.5% compared to the same period the previous year, with the level of connectivity with fiber optic networks reaching 55% (fiberized).
Investments and network strategies that have been continuously carried out have succeeded in improving the quality of the network experience to be better so as to be able to increase higher usage. This is proven by the traffic which grew by 19% YoY. Meanwhile, the 3G spectrum refarming process, which has been continuously implemented to date, only leaves less than 1,252 BTS units.
XL Axiata's financial position was healthy as of the end of March 2023, gross debt was recorded at IDR. 8.83 trillion, with a gearing ratio of net debt to EBITDA(including finance leases) at 2.73x. Net debt was recorded at IDR. 7.09 trillion. XL Axiata does not have debt denominated in USD. 56% of the debts currently have floating interest rates and 44% have fixed interest rates. Free Cash Flow (FCF) is at a healthy level, with an increase of 12%, to IDR. 2.17 trillion.