dtac reports operating cash flow of Bt2.4 bn for first quarter

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Service revenues excluding IC and net profit rebounded from last quarter to Bt16.2 billion and Bt229 million, respectively
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) amounted to Bt6.9 billion in the quarter, declining 5.9 per cent year on year as a result of higher handset subsidies and network OPEX.
 EBITDA margin improved 110 basis points from last year to reach 34.9 per cent of total revenues. Depreciation and amortisation expenses continued to rise due to continuous investment in the network. Consequently, net profit for declined 82 per cent from the same period last year. However, operating cash flow remained solid at Bt2.4 billion, down from Bt2.6 billion in the same period last year.
In the first quarter, dtac continued to invest heavily in the network to serve increasing demand for data services. The number of base stations increased from the same period last year.
“4G network continued to expand and customers enjoyed better mobile Internet experiences on our network,” the company said.
“Furthermore, dtac launched the ‘Smoothest’ advertising campaign to strengthen network perception. Customers’ satisfaction with our network quality continued to improve as indicated by several third-party surveys. Moreover, dtac introduced the ‘Flip It’ brand platform to solidify its market position and differentiate itself from competitors, together with the launch of ‘Go No Limit’ price plans and ‘Go Plearn’ prepaid SIM.”
At the end of the first quarter, total subscriber base stood at 24.3 million, more than 96 per cent of which had already been registered under DTN, a subsidiary holding the 2.1GHz license from NBTC. Revenue from data services continues to grow strongly, reaching 64 per cent of service revenues excluding IC.
Dtac, with a strong spectrum portfolio of 50MHz bandwidth and the largest contiguous bandwidth in the 1800MHz frequency band, is well positioned to capture the growth of data demand and provide best wireless services to its customer base on 2G/3G/4G technologies.
The company  maintains its outlook for 2017. This envisages service revenue excluding IC at the same level as last year, with  EBITDA at least at the same level as last year, and  capital expenditure in the range of Bt17 billion to Bt20 billion.
Lars Norling, dtac’s chief executive officer, said “We continue to see strong growth in revenues from data services and postpaid segment, which indicates the continuing improvement in our network quality and perception. Our prepaid segment also starts stabilising as indicated by a flattish quarter-on-quarter development in average daily revenue.
“The launch of the ‘Smoothest’ network advertising campaign and the ‘Flip It’ brand platform will further strengthen our network perception and market position, and help make dtac become the No. 1 digital brand in Thailand in 2020. Moreover, we continue investing heavily in our network to ensure that our customers have the best mobile Internet experience. Finally, our cash flow and financial position remain strong.”