Why M1's strong fixed broadband won't move the needle for its profits

Unless it captures 20% of market share.

If the fixed broadband segment is to be looked at, M1 appears to be thriving, with its fibre customers growing to 168,000 in Q1.

According to DBS Group Research, M1 has grown its market share in this segment from 0 to 12% in just five years. However, whilst this growth is encouraging, it will not be able to make a sizeable difference to its bottom line, which is constantly badgered by lower mobile revenues.

"Broadband accounted for only 15% of M1's revenue in 1Q17 and EBITDA margins tend to be lower than the mobile business. As such, the impact on M1’s bottomline is likely to be limited," DBS said, "We believe the company could see decent growth till its fixed broadband market share reaches close to 20%."

To recall, M1's net profit fell 14.6% YoY to $36.3m in the past quarter.
 

Join Singapore Business Review community
Join Singapore Business Review community
A NOTE FROM SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.