BackAxiata CEO says stake in Idea for long term
Axiata CEO says stake in Idea for long term
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Hong Kong: Malaysia’s Axiata Group Bhd, which owns about a fifth of mobile phone carrier Idea Cellular Ltd, does not plan to sell its stake in the company, considering itself a long-term investor, Axiata’s chief executive officer (CEO) said on Wednesday.
Idea, controlled by Aditya Birla conglomerate, is the country’s fourth-biggest mobile operator with more than 100 million subscribers. Axiata bought a stake in Idea in 2008.
“We believe in the long run," Axiata president and group CEO Jamaluddin Ibrahim told the news agency on the sidelines of a mobile industry event in Hong Kong. “In fact we have raised our stake slightly," he said, referring to a 0.9% stake buy in August that took Axiata’s total holding to about 20%.
Idea is operating in a fast-growing yet ferociously competitive mobile market. A vicious price war in the crowded 15-operator market has kept profits under pressure for the last two years; while a multi-billion telecommunications licensing scandal has prompted regulatory changes.
The government is in the process of overhauling decade-old telecoms rules and there is little clarity yet on several contentious issues, leading to uncertainty among market players.
“There are concerns," Jamaluddin said. “But we are positive on Idea. We are positive on India."
Idea, last month, said it was focusing on increasing revenue from high-margin data services after reporting a sharper-than-expected drop in quarterly profit.
Idea shares are up more than 42% this year, outperforming the broader CNX NIFTY Index, which has lost about 18%. Top mobile carrier, Bharti Airtel, has risen nearly 13% this year.
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