Dialog Axiata, Sri Lanka’s largest mobile operator by subscribers and a unit of Malaysia’s Axiata Group, has reported an 82.5% year-on-year increase in net profit for the three months ended 31 December 2016 to LKR1.51 billion (USD10.10 million), compared to LKR829.93 million in the corresponding year-ago period, as revenue rose 14.0% to LKR22.78 billion.

The group noted that its mobile business unit continues to perform strongly, recording revenue of LKR73.61 billion for the period under review, up by over LKR10 billion y-o-y as Dialog’s mobile subscriber base surged past the 11.825 million mark – up 9% y-o-y. Operating profit from the mobile unit also rose sharply by 38% to over LKR13.38 billion it said, while operating income of LKR51.89 million from fixed telephony and broadband marked a turnaround from a loss of LKR43.50 million in Q4 2015, as revenues improved by 27.4% to over LKR9.32 billion. Less positively, the group’s pay-TV business saw operating losses widen to LKR525.61 million from LKR144.80 million despite a small upturn in revenue to LKR6.08 billion.

Fourth-quarter CAPEX of LKR10.43 billion marked a 3% reduction from 4Q15, but was up 85% from LKR5.65 billion in 3Q16 as Dialog Axiata continued to plough investment into the development of its high speed broadband infrastructure, including capacity upgrades and LTE-focused coverage expansion. (TG)