JAKARTA, Tuesday (4/4/2023) – PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi Tbk (MTEL) or Mitratel has launched a roadmap for organic and inorganic growth that will impact fundamental performance while supporting digital transformation in Indonesia. In 2023, Mitratel plans to develop the tower business ecosystem by increasing the number of telecommunications towers, building fiber optics and other supporting infrastructure, which will multiply revenue and net profit in the coming period.
By the end of 2022, Mitratel has 35,418 telecommunications towers, reinforcing its position as the leading tower provider in Southeast Asia. To further strengthen its business fundamentals, the company has capital expenditure (capex) of IDR 7 trillion in 2023. This allotment is aimed to both support organic and inorganic business development strategies, such as the acquisition of telecommunications towers and fiber optics. “Mitratel is ready to execute its business strategies and optimize various business opportunities in 2023, particularly the monetization tower assets spread throughout Indonesia. We also prepared a new business model–Fiber to the Tower and Power to the Tower–which provides value-added services to our telecommunications operators’ customers,” stated Theodorus Ardi Hartoko, President Director of Mitratel in Jakarta, Tuesday (4/4/ 2023).
Mitratel is confident in its ability to maintain its market position in the telecommunications tower industry, after the company controls a market share of around 40% in 2022. “The demand for telecommunications towers in Indonesia remains significant, with an average of a single telecommunications tower in Indonesia covering 2,700 people, surpassing the neighboring countries such as Malaysia and Thailand. Hence, this suggests the necessity for more towers to expand the cellular networks and services by telecommunications operators,” said Teddy.
The company has also anticipated telecommunication operators (Mobile Network Operators/MNOs) to expand their 5G services. The company forecasts 5G penetration in 2025 at 27.2%, surpassing the estimated 13.4% potential 5G penetration in 2024. “We possess the largest number of towers in Indonesia, strategically located across Indonesia. Specifically, 58% of the towers are located outside Java Island and 42% are on Java Island. Moreover, we have 16,641 km of fiber optics,” said Teddy.
Prior to the conclusion of 2024, the company succeeded to build 25,000 km of fiber optic from MNO or 30% of MNO’s total fiber roll out in 2022. This underscores the company’s reputation as a trusted independent provider of digital infrastructure solutions (Digital InfraCo) which has the most significant number of telecommunications towers equipped with other digital supporting solutions, such as fiber optic.
Growing Above the Industry
On a separate occasion, Niko Margaronis, research analyst at PT BRI Danareksa Sekuritas, revealed that Mitratel’s revenue in 2023 has the potential to grow by around 11-12%. “After the IPO, Mitratel has become more professional and independent. Apart from Telkomsel, Mitratel has established business partnerships with other telecommunications operators, namely XL, Indosat Hutchison, and Smartfren.
“Mitratel continues to strengthen its reputation, resulting in the possibility of its revenue to grow by around 11% to 12% in 2023,” said Niko.
MTEL’s powerful presence is proven by the numbers of MTEL’s tower assets located outside Java reaching 58%, surpassing TOWR and TBIG’s 39% and 41% respectively. This signifies MTEL’s potential to be more appealing for telecommunications operators expanding their respective networks.
In the 2022 performance, it was recorded that Mitratel’s revenue in 2022 grew 12.5% or to IDR 7.72 trillion from IDR 6.87 trillion in 2021. In this period, Mitratel’s net profit was IDR 1.78 trillion or increase 29.3% compared to IDR 1.38 trillion, while EBITDA increased by 18.5%, to IDR 6.14 trillion from IDR 5.18 trillion. This is evident through Mitratel’s performance which has demonstrated rapid growth and the ownership of the largest number of towers in the industry, 35,418 sites, compared to TOWR with 29,794 sites and TBIG towers with 21,758 sites.
Niko mentioned several factors driving Mitratel’s business growth, including generating revenue from asset monetization resulting from tower and fiber optic acquisitions, as well as leasing collocation towers outside Java. Nico observed that Mitratel’s capital expenditure allocation, which is worth IDR 7 trillion, will be used to financing organic business plans. The portion is 60% of the total capex. Then, around 40% of Mitratel’s capex will be used to fund the acquisition of telecommunications towers and fiber optics. “The funds from the IPO and Mitratel’s healthy cash flow will encourage Mitratel’s fundamental performance to increase revenue and optimize new sources of income this year,” said Niko.
BRI Danareksa Sekuritas stated that Mitratel’s business scale and number of towers are more dominant than other telecommunications tower issuers. Market players believe that Mitratel’s fundamental performance has a significant impact on Mitratel’s stock price. “We anticipate Mitratel’s stock price to range from IDR 930 to IDR 950 by the end of 2023,” added Niko.
