True Corporation Plc. (True) reported a net profit after tax of THB 1.6 billion for the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025), marking its third consecutive quarter in the black. Bolstered by strong operational efficiencies, the Company announced its maiden interim dividend payout totaling THB 6.6 billion for the first nine months of 2025, which represents a 125% payout ratio (THB 0.19 per share).
Excluding the impact of one-off non-cash items, the Company’s normalized net profit after tax for the quarter reached THB 4.6 billion. Reported EBITDA stood at THB 27.0 billion, a significant 7.9% increase both year-on-year (YoY) and quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), driven primarily by the benefits derived from spectrum acquisition and stringent cost management.
Sustained Profitability Drives Shareholder Value
Sigve Brekke, Group Chief Executive Officer of True Corporation Plc., commented on the achievement: “We closed this quarter with sustained profitability, highlighted by the first-time dividend payout. Healthier profitability on account of EBITDA improvement and disciplined financial management are critical factors enabling us to deliver value to our customers and shareholders. We continue to execute with a clear intent on our priorities to strengthen our foundation and explore potential growth, including our recent strategic partnership to establish robust AI and cloud infrastructure as the backbone of Thailand’s digital transformation.”
Nakul Sehgal, Co-Chief Financial Officer of True Corporation Plc., confirmed the commitment to shareholders: “With a Net Profit After Tax of THB 5.2 billion for the first nine months of 2025, the Board has approved an interim dividend of THB 6.6 billion. This decision reiterates the company’s commitment to returning value to shareholders while maintaining financial discipline and delivering profitable growth.”
Strong Operational Efficiency Offsets Topline Softness
While service revenue, excluding interconnection charges (IC), saw a slight decline of 0.6% YoY to THB 41.3 billion, mainly due to macroeconomic headwinds and lower tourist inflow, True demonstrated substantial improvements in operational efficiency:
- Cost Optimization: Total operating expenses (excluding D&A) declined significantly by 21.6% YoY. This was led by a 16.3% YoY reduction in network costs, thanks to spectrum acquisition and cost savings from the Network Modernization initiative. Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) expenses also declined by 6.2%.
- EBITDA Margin: The successful integration strategy has resulted in a recorded EBITDA improvement of THB 7.5 billion since the amalgamation. The EBITDA margin to service revenue rose by 5.1 percentage points YoY, reaching 65.3% for the quarter.
- Subscriber Base: True continued its focus on building a healthy subscriber base, reducing “rotational gross adds.” Total mobile subscribers reached 46.9 million (a 4.8% YoY decline). However, online subscribers increased by 2.0% YoY to 3.8 million, and 5G subscribers reached 15.5 million at the end of Q3 2025.
The total revenue for the quarter saw a 7.1% YoY decline, partly due to the anticipated reduction in network rental income following the expiration of the agreement with National Telecom (NT) from August 2025.
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