TM's Q2 profit hit by Prihatin, World Cup costs

Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (TM) net profit for the second quarter (Q2) of 2026 fell 9.3% to RM365.48 million, despite an increase in revenue. This decline was mainly due to costs associated with TM's Prihatin initiative for voluntary employee separations and strategic investments tied to its sponsorship of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Revenue, on the other hand, grew 6.8% to RM2.96 billion from the previous quarter, propelled by growth across all customer segments, driven by sustained demand for data, information, and communication technology and telecommunications services.

For the first half of 2026, TM's net profit decreased 14.6% to RM687 million, while revenue rose 4.8% to RM5.89 billion. The company allocated RM555.7 million towards capital expenditure, equivalent to 9.4% of revenue, with investments focused on growth areas such as data centers, cloud services, GPU-as-a-Service, and 5G access.

TM announced a second interim single-tier dividend of seven sen per share for the financial year ending December 31, 2026, in addition to the first interim dividend of 6.5 sen per share declared in Q1, bringing the total dividend for the first half of 2026 to 13.5 sen per share, up from 12.5 sen in the same period last year.

TM's Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Amar Huzaimi Md Deris, commented on the lower net profit, attributing it to several one-off factors during the period. He expressed confidence in meeting the quarter targets and continuing to execute the company's PWR 2030 strategy. Huzaimi emphasized that the group's overall performance reflected tangible progress in implementing this strategy.

For consumers, TM is enhancing Unifi's convergence proposition by delivering greater value across broadband, mobile, and smart home AI solutions, while improving access to premium content through Unifi TV, including the FIFA World Cup 2026. For enterprises and the government, TM is progressing towards higher-value, nationally hosted digital solutions, including cloud services, cybersecurity, smart services, and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms.

Huzaimi also mentioned that the company will continue strengthening its regional connectivity and data center infrastructure to capitalize on growing demand from hyperscalers and AI-driven workloads.