True Group reported continued service revenue growth of 3% and core service revenue growth of 5% YoY driving EBITDA up 12% from the previous year to Baht 8.5 billion or Baht 12.2 billion including the effect of the new accounting standard (TFRS16). This boosted operating profit to Baht 2.3 billion in the first quarter of 2020. TrueMove H significantly outgrew the industry with service revenue growth of 5.2% YoY and 300k postpaid net adds during the first quarter amid quarterly revenue contraction of the other industry players. Maintaining financial discipline with efficient cost management and productivity improvement is at the top of the list to sustainably enhance True Group’s profitability while adapting itself under the COVID-19 impact on economy.
President (Co) Mr. Anat Mekpaiboonvatana said, “Despite challenging circumstance with the COVID-19 impact in late first quarter, True Group recorded operating profit and TrueMove H continued to outperform both in terms of revenue and postpaid subscriber growth amid the industry’s quarterly declining revenue trend. This was directly driven by its top network position proven with the latest nPerf results showing TrueMove H as the best mobile internet provider for the 4th consecutive year despite continued increase of data usage. TrueOnline’s broadband internet has also seen growing demand from consumers following the city lockdown in late Q1 and continue to see such positive trend so far. At the same time, the Group’s readiness in terms of digital and online platforms, such as TrueID, True iService, Mari service via line TrueMove H and wemall.com with delivery service, responds well to consumer’s online behavior. This, together with synergy with strategic partners on distribution channels throughout the country has driven growth and mitigated impact from the lockdown. The current crisis comes with growth opportunity as consumers and businesses rapidly move toward digital and solution based, online transactions and e-commerce. True Group is in a prime position to amplify growth capitalizing on this emergence of new normal with our comprehensive digital ecosystem and solutions.”
President (Co) Mr. Sarit Jinnasith said, “Telecommunication networks become more crucial as demand for internet usage and online services for working at home, learning at home and home entertainments has surged following the lockdown in late first quarter. To ensure that True Group’s customers and business partners could access the services at all time, True Group added bandwidth capacity to accommodate local and international connections and set up dedicated teams to support quality of networks nationwide. It also provided special privileges including 10GB mobile internet and 100Mbps broadband internet upgrade to registered users through collaboration with the NBTC as well as upgrading package for TrueVisions’ customers. Additionally, True Group has offered free access to a cloud-based integrated solutions platform “True Virtual World” during the crisis to support work from home arrangements, e-learning and entertainments. It also extends partnership in healthcare segment providing digital infrastructure and platforms including 5G network and devices, robotics “True5G Connect & Care Tech”, Teleclinic, Virtual COVID-19 Clinic and VHealth platforms. These act as catalysts to rapidly progress toward digitalization and we are committed to work together and help the country get through this difficult time.”
TrueMove H’s service revenue grew 5.2% YoY to Baht 20.1 billion in 1Q20 primarily driven by double-digit growth of postpaid revenues despite the COVID-19 impact pressuring international roaming and tourist related revenues in late Q1. The business recorded QoQ revenue growth, amid contraction trend of the other industry players, supported by postpaid net adds of 300k in 1Q20. TrueMove H ended the quarter with total subscriber base of 30.3 million, of which 8.6 million were postpaid and 21.7 million were prepaid users. TrueMove H’s network strength, proven with the latest Q1 nPerf results as the best mobile internet provider for four consecutive years particularly on browsing and streaming performance, and materialized synergy with business partners for both device and distribution channels remained key drivers for its continued revenue and subscriber growth. This, combined with its segmented propositions and privileges that match customers’ needs along with increasing data usage and digital transactions will stimulate TrueMove H’s growth further.
TrueOnline’s broadband internet revenue was Baht 6.5 billion in 1Q20, a growth of 4.7% from the previous year, as consumer broadband revenue increased on strong response to the 1Gbps and TrueID TV bundled propositions. This drove its broadband subscriber base to 3.9 million gaining 55k net subscribers during the first quarter. To capture rising demand for broadband internet usage as work from home and online transactions become more prevalent, TrueOnline introduced special propositions including speed shuffle and upgrade for contract extension, VLearn package for e-learning and VWork package supporting video conferencing platform “True Virtual World” while adding benefits through TrueID TV bundled allowing customers to enjoy world-class quality content and True Points. These have received promising market response further enlarging up-sell and cross-sell potentials.
TrueVisions’ service revenue was Baht 2.6 million in 1Q20 pressured by COVID-19 impact predominantly on an absence of entertainment events and live-sports postponement which lowered their associated revenues and costs. Its total customer base remained relatively flat at approximately 4 million by the end of the first quarter. In addition to strengthening True Group’s convergence offerings with high quality international and local content, TrueVisions saw positive progression on its Online Station with influencer network adding additional revenue streams and boosting effective customer acquisition across True Group’s various businesses.
True Digital Group continues to differentiate True Group from other operators with its growing ecosystem of platforms and services. In Q1 of 2020, TrueID, its digital media platform, was the most downloaded application in the entertainment category for both Android and iOS, with monthly video views of 141 million views and reached its highest video on demand views (VOD) at 36.9 million views, representing 400% growth from the previous year. In addition, content subscription on TrueID continued to increase to over 285,000 content transactions while the added live chat, voice calling, and direct chat functions exhibited growth with 280,000 active users per month since its launch. TrueID TV, its OTT platform, also saw an incremental scale with 843,000 TrueID TV boxes shipped. Aligning with its strategic mission to enable digital capabilities across all industries’ segments, IoT and True Digital Solutions offers help during the pandemic with a 24/7 online health consultation, “Virtual COVID-19 Clinic” in collaboration with AIA and Samitivej Hospitals. True Digital Solutions continues to expand its client base and partnerships on various smart solutions for industry verticals in the Thai economy such as agriculture, retail, manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and healthcare. The unit has now connected over 242,000 IoT endpoints and devices.
