Troubles Mount at Maxis, Can Aircel Weather The Storm ?

Maxis Trouble - Aircel FutureMalaysian Telecom Giant also Maxis hosted a group luncheon forum for investors to meet the new CEO, Morten Lundal. One of the key initiatives pushed by its new CEO is to narrow excess mgmt layers by 40% and existing operational silos which he believes have served to dilute the company’s agility and competitiveness. Headcount will be reduced further from current c3,200 level to c3,000 by year-end, mostly with reduction from management layers.

Maxis noted its intention to claw back some market share, particularly on prepaid segment. Key areas of focus lies on fixing its distribution network which had fallen in prominence vs. peers and branding. Distribution points will need to be expanded and better structured to address performance gaps. A and P will need to be improved to better push the brand and address market share slippage. Postpaid is less of a problem for mgmt currently.

Maxis’ foray into home bundling services with content and fibre has so far been ineffective [Reliance Jio Infocomm is banking on the same model in India], with management noting that a review is ongoing on how to take it forward or if it is a business they should even be involved in. Given the scale and current agreements, the home platform had so far been loss-making for Maxis.

4G LTE build out remains fairly limited as the company better matches consumer demand with the network. Management sees build-out towards FY14 towards FY15 monetization.

Indian subsidiary, Aircel in Deep Debt of USD 4 Bn and with no Growth in 2G Voice is certainly headed for uncertain times even though it talks of 3G and 4G LTE launch but business case is very weak.