KUALA LUMPUR: Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) has revised Maxis Bhd's capital expenditure (Capex) guidance for the financial year 2023 (FY23) to RM1 billion from RM1.1 billion previously.
The firm has also lowered its FY23, FY24, and FY25 net profit forecasts by 6.0 per cent, 3.0 per cent, and 3.0 per cent, respectively, incorporating the latest run rates.
It noted that Maxis' nine-month core net profit of RM937 million was below its forecast as well as consensus, attributed to an increase in staff costs.
"We view risk-reward as being balanced presently, with Maxis' generally stable earnings delivery being offset by a conservative dividend outlook and overall 5G uncertainty."
In the third quarter of 2023 (Q3 2023), Maxis' total service revenue was up 1.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), with mobile service revenue up by the same quantum on the back of postpaid growth.
"The prepaid segment was stable as Maxis recovered subscribers through a new prepaid product. Enterprise revenue was stable QoQ, while consumer fibre revenue was marginally higher.
"Operating expenditure was higher QoQ mainly on higher staff costs as Maxis embarked on a multi-year manpower optimisation exercise, which resulted in EBITDA margin contracting by 2.6 per cent QoQ to 37.8 per cent," it stated.
Maybank IB maintains a "hold" call on the stock with an unchanged target price of RM4 following its earnings revisions."