Jakarta, February 10th 2020. PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata) recorded the highest ever revenue in its history of Rp 25.15 trillion. Revenue increased by 9% compared to the previous year, driven by an increase in service revenue by 15% YoY. The 9% revenue growth rate is ahead of the industry as predicted by analyst at around 4%. The increase in service revenue was mainly supported by revenue from data services which increased by 28% YoY. In total, the contribution of data service revenue to the company’s service revenue has also increased, reaching 89% in 2019. XL Axiata also recorded its highest ever EBITDA of Rp 9.97 trillion, an increase of 17% YoY, this was driven by revenue growth and increased efficiency through the company's focus on operational excellence. The company also returned to net profit of Rp. 713 billion compared to its net loss in the previous year.
President Director & CEO of XL Axiata, Dian Siswarini said, “We continue to focus and consistently implement our strategy focusing on Data, which worked so well that we recorded revenue growth above the industry with a strong EBITDA. The revenue increase was driven by growth in service revenue with data as the main driver. We have succeeded in encouraging upselling programs, by increasing the application of analytics using our unique engine and an Omni Channel platform. Meanwhile, EBITDA which increased faster than revenue, and resulted in an increase in the EBITDA margins, was the result of the company’s focus on Operational Excellence. Our balance sheet position now is also very healthy with net debt to EBITDA at 1.1x.”
Dian added, the company will continue to implement its dual brand strategy using the “XL” and “AXIS” brands to target different market segments, by offering innovative products tailored to the characteristics of each consumer segment. Both brands continue to grow and gain traction in their respective customer segments as seen by the Net Promoter Scores (NPS). In 2019, XL and AXIS both grew their respective NPS and strengthened their strong number two position within their target segment.
The success in upselling can be seen from the blended ARPU which increased by 9% to Rp 35,000 from previously Rp 32,000.
Throughout 2019, XL Axiata also continued to expand its network coverage and capacity, especially in areas outside Java. Until the end of 2019, XL Axiata’s BTS count has increased to more than 130 thousand, including more than 40 thousand 4G BTS. XL Axiata 4G services are now available in 425 cities/areas. XL Axiata also continues to invest in network fiberization to serve data traffic that continues to increase rapidly. In addition, investments continued for transmission, backhaul, network modernization, and other network enhancements to serve the increasing data traffic to provide stability to connections, expand network capacity, and improve the quality of data services in general.
Investments in the network that have been combined with the innovations (product) portfolio have successfully positioned XL Axiata as the brand of choice for data customers with smartphones. XL Axiata is now one of the leading brands in the industry, both in data revenue reaching 89% of service revenue, and also for smartphone penetration reaching 86% at the end of 2019. Within this same period, smartphone users also managed to reach 48.8 million subscribers, up by 11% compared to 2018, while the total number of XL Axiata customers had reached 56.7 million subscribers.
During 2019, XL Axiata launched several innovative product offerings and managed to receive positive responses from customers driving sales. The various subscriber service plans/packages include, the XTRA Combo VIP package, in which this plan offers priority network access to subscribers which includes YouTube access and iFlix movie channels. Other packages, known as the “XTRA Rejeki” plan and the XTRA Quota Zero plan, allows subscribers to receive free quota (data) to download applications of their choice, all to XL customers. As for AXIS users, amongst them there are the OWSEM package and the BOOSTR package that targets the younger segment in the market with quota (data) for Social Media, Music, and Games. Other packages include, the “AXIS Forever Play” plan and the “AXIS Unlimited Gaming” plan. There are also packages exclusive to call service customers, namely the “MyPRIO Talk+” for XL Priority users. In addition, for Home Entertainment services, XL Axiata through XL Home also continue to expand its’ service range/area, and partnerships with several strategic partners in order to provide video content, including Vidio.com, Netflix and so on.
Areas outside Java remain a focus for network expansion and coverage. In 2019, XL Axiata recorded a strong performance from the regions outside of Java which has strengthened the company's reputation as an operator with nationwide reach. Revenue growth in regions outside of Java also continues to increase far ahead of the growth rate of the Java region positively contributing to the company’s revenue.
“We were able to set these performance records for 2019 due to the implementation of our strategies that were done with increased focus on operational excellence. Despite the increase in competitive pressures in the industry during the 2H of 2019, we continued to focus on executing our strategy. In addition, we also expanded our product portfolio with our dual brand strategy, increased upselling through our analytics model while also continuing network expansions both in and outside of Java with technological upgrades," said Dian.
During 2019, XL Axiata had made payments on bank loans of Rp. 950 billion, along with bonds and sukuk amounting to Rp 686 billion through internal cash and refinancing. Up until December 31st 2019, the company did not have any loans in US dollars.
XL Axiata successfully won several awards in the third quarter of 2019. Leading business magazine Forbes named XL Axiata CEO Dian Siswarini as one of Asia’s Power Businesswoman. Dian was considered as one of the three Indonesian women who have important roles in developing the business landscape in Asia. XL Axiata was also included again in the list of Top 50 of the Biggest Market Capitalization Public Listed Companies on the 20th rank, as well as receiving The Best Role of Stakeholders Award. XL Axiata also received three awards in Selular Awards 2019, namely CEO of the Year, Best B2B Service, and Best Network Transformation Initiative.