The fourth largest mobile operator in Indonesia, XL Axiata posted a net profit of Rp 376 billion ($USD28.1 million) in 2016 compared to a loss of Rp 25 billion ($USD1.87 million) a year before. XL’s subscriber base continues to grow with the addition of 1.5 million subs in the last quarter, making the total to 46.5 million which is 11% higher than the subscriber base a year ago.
In 2016, XL’s revenue declined due to the shift from legacy services to data, however trends in the second half of the year were more positive as data now accounts for 50% of revenue as of Q4 compared to 31% in the same period a year ago. XL's gross revenue grew in the fourth quarter driven by growth in data revenue
On the back of the strengthened network and attractive data offerings, XL has been attracting the right customers with smartphone penetration rising 21 percentage points to 63% compared to the same period in the previous year as more data savvy customers prefer the XL network. This means that XL now has 29.0 million smartphone subscribers at the end of FY 16, a 64% YoY increase from the same period a year ago.
Total traffic across XL’s networks, which has seen a 162% YoY increase in 2016 compared to the same period previous year mainly driven by growth in Data traffic.
Dian Siswarini, President Director & CEO
In 2016, our main focus was improving coverage and quality of our Data network as part of the Transformation strategy to build a more Data centric business. In addition, with the completion of our Balance Sheet Management Initiatives and the realization of cost efficiencies, we have built the foundations in 2016 that will lead to a better 2017 performance. It is clear that the 3R Strategy is the right one to build a more sustainable and profitable XL.
