Jakarta, 27 August 2020 - PT Telkom Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (Telkom) concluded the first half of 2020 by earning Rp66.9 trillion in the Company’s consolidated income and Rp10.99 trillion in net profit. Its EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation Amortization) grew stronger with 8.9% year-on-year growth to Rp36.08 trillion and EBITDA margin grew 6.2 points to 54.0%. The net profit margin also showed an improved trend compared to the same period last year to 16.4% from 16.0% previously.

Heri Supriadi, Telkom Finance Director, reported this in his presentation at the virtual Public Expose Live 2020 in Jakarta (27/8). Telkom Digital Business Director Muhamad Fajrin Rasyid, Telkom Consumer Service Director FM Venusiana R. and Telkomsel Finance Director Leonardus Wahyu Wasono also attended the event. "During the past six months, Telkom has performed fairly well despite the dynamic and challenging business conditions as well as the pandemic, which certainly have impacted the macroeconomic condition and weakened people’s purchasing power. This was mainly due to the company's policy to focus on business lines with higher profitability,” Heri said.

IndiHome continued its good momentum with its revenue grew 19.1% year-on-year to Rp10.4 trillion, supported by new users and add-ons growth. Telkomsel digital business also grew 13.5% year-on-year to Rp31.9 trillion and increased its contribution to the overall revenue by 72.4% from 62.2% last year. IndiHome and Telkomsel's digital business are the Company’s revenue growth driving engines, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To develop its digital business platform, the company is focusing also on data center, which sis one its business lines that has been growing quite strongly. Telkom has data centers in 22 locations and has recently had groundbreakings for its tier 3 & 4 data centers. The first phase of their operation is expected to start in mid-2021. Telkom also continues to develop its telecommunications infrastructure to support its business activities and to ensure the best service for its customers. As per the end of June, it has installed 165,850 km of fiber-based backbone and operates 228,066 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) for Telkomsel. 

The company’s Digital recorded better performance compared to the previous year with its revenue grew up to 12% year-on-year and contributed 7.6% to the Company's total revenue. This was mainly driven by B2C digital services and digital platforms. Over-the-top (OTT) video revenue, which grew 16% from the same period last year, is the largest contributor to digital business revenue, followed by the Internet of Things (IoT) & Machine to Machine (M2M) portfolio. To increase the digital business’ revenue portion, the company has developed several digital initiatives, such as introducing various digital products and solutions. Until the end of June 2020, Telkom managed around 152 active digital products from Amoeba, Indigo, and Tribe, which are a means of company innovation management.

Another Telkom’s digital initiative is the establishment of MDI Ventures in 2015 which began its full operation in 2016. MDI is Telkom’s venture capital initiative, which provides seed capital to growth capital for small and medium scale start up companies in Southeast Asia and aorund the world. MDI has invested in 43 startups from 12 countries and has also announced it injected US$500 million new investment fund to support startup development and develop the company's digital capabilities.

COVID-19 has consequentially pushed Telkom to accelerate its transformation efforts into a digital telecommunications company. The pandemic has provided an impetus for Telkom to have digital acceleration. Telkom seized this opportunity by introducing solutions through various digital services that are supported by strong digital connectivity and digital platforms. Therefore, Telkom continues to develop infrastructure as allocated in the company's capital expenditure, which it will use to strengthen all its business lines, including mobile-related business, fixed broadband and other businesses.

“The pandemic has also pushed Telkom to accelerate its transformation process, minimize the impact of the pandemic on business and accelerate its business on digital platforms and services, so that Telkom can continue to survive by having a more robust and more profitable performance," Heri said.