MAIDEN DIVIDEND FROM AXIATA

Axiata Group has rewarded shareholders with a handsome divident of 10 sen per share sooner rather than later.
This is its maiden dividend after its separation from big bro Telekom Malaysia Bhd in early 2008.

Axiata said today it made RM1.77bil net profit for financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 versus RM1.65bil reported a year earlier.
Revenue rose to RM15.6bil from RM13.3bil but EPS was down 1 sen from 22 to 21 sen in 2010.
For the fourth quarter it took a hit in impairment for its Indian operations, Idea Cellular which led to a net loss of RM367mil compared to RM558mil net profit in 2009.

It explains why the impariment: 

"Non normalised PATAMI rose by 7%, to reach RM1.8 billion, due to the non cash FRS

impairment accounting adjustment on Idea of RM1 billion. Without the impairment, PATAMI

growth would have been 73%.

Idea represents an important strategic stake for Axiata, in a huge market which is growing

rapidly and the Group has always taken a long term view on the investment. The decision to

impair is based on conservative accounting standards, and in conjunction with the

impairment assessment requirement under FRS 136 “impairment of assets”. The possibility

of an Idea impairment has been consistently communicated to market.

The decision therefore, does not reflect Idea’s performance. Against hyper competition and

an uncertain regulatory environment, Idea is well recognized as one of the best performing

operators in India. It is now number 3, in terms of revenue market share, from number 5

three years ago. The Indian market, with a population of 1.2 billion, has tremendous growth

opportunity in voice given its relatively low penetration, and at a later stage, data services

.Axiata remains committed to Idea and has every faith in its long term value.''