Indosat Ooredoo had a robust 2019 as it refreshed its strategy to serve the needs of Indonesia’s evolving telecommunications landscape.
President Director and CEO Indosat Ooredoo, Ahmad Al-Neama, said, “Indosat Ooredoo has delivered on our three-year strategy and this has led to the solid financial performance we announced today. We have invested to expand our 4G network coverage and improve performance and these steps have contributed to an increase in our subscriber base and data traffic volume. As we move forward, we aim to continue play a leading role in Indonesia’s digital ecosystem and deliver further improvements in our service quality and customer experience that will create value for our stakeholders.”
Total Revenue increased by 12.9% to IDR 26.1 trillion YoY, cellular revenue increased by 14.7% to IDR 20.7 trillion YoY, and EBITDA reached IDR 9.9 trillion, a remarkable 51.6% improvement YoY. Cellular subscriber numbers grew by 1.2 million to 59.3 million by end of 2019, and Average Revenue per User (ARPU) increased to IDR 27.9 thousand from previously IDR 18.7 thousand, driven mainly by a substantial data traffic increase of 71.7% YoY. Indosat Ooredoo also recorded net profit of IDR1,569.0 billion, increased by almost IDR 4 trillion over net loss recorded in FY2018 primarily driven by EBITDA improvement and tower sale.
Operationally we successfully executed an intensive 4G network rollout, expanding 4G coverage from just 44% of the Indonesian population at the end of 2017 to nearly 90% in 2019 and measurably improving connection quality nationwide. In recognition of this momentous achievement, during the year Indosat Ooredoo was awarded the prestigious Gold Stevie® Award Asia Pacific award for the Innovation in Technology Development. The Company operated 124,144 BTSs as of 31 December 2019, adding 49,218 BTSs compared to last year. To date, the Company has operated 48,048 4G BTS.
In addition, we were recognized for ‘Best Bundling Program’ and ‘Most Innovative Data Package’ by Selular Awards. We also scored well on the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard, considerably above the average score of 100 largest listed companies in Indonesia due to improved customer satisfaction scores.
We also concluded the sale of the Company’s 3,100 telecommunication towers to PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi (Mitratel) and PT Professional Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Protelindo) in an all-cash transaction amounting to IDR6.39 trillion. This sale will support Indosat Ooredoo’s strategic plan to further improve our network experience, thus accelerating our service excellence to our customers.
In 2020, the Company is guiding in line with market revenue growth, EBITDA margin to be in high 30%, and CAPEX at IDR 8.5 to IDR 9.5Tn.
