KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Digital Nasional Bhd’s (DNB) share transfer is expected to be completed by the end of the current third quarter (3Q 2026) or in the early part of the fourth quarter of 2026, according to CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd.
Thus, the stockbroking firm is now factoring in a three-month impact versus the previous six-month assumption to CelcomDigi Bhd from equity accounting for DNB’s net loss in its FY2026F (Forecast).
“At the DNB level, we continue to assume net losses of RM700 million, RM/500 million, and RM300 million in FY2026-FY2028, respectively.
“Hence, we have raised our FY2026 core net profit (CNP) forecast for CelcomDigi by three per cent; our FY2027–FY2028 forecasts are largely unchanged,” it said in a company note today.
CIMB Securities also expects CelcomDigi’s CNP to grow by a healthy 8.0 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in FY2026, led by three per cent service revenue growth and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margin improvement (+0.8 percentage point).
For FY2027F, the stockbroking company projects CelcomDigi’s CNP to grow by three per cent y-o-y, supported by sustained service revenue growth of three per cent y-o-y.
It also projects a pick-up in merger synergies as more tower leases expire at decommissioned sites, and lower integration costs following the completion of information technology (IT) system consolidation by end-FY2026 or early FY2027, to more than offset the full-year impact of equity accounting DNB’s net loss.
“Excluding the share of DNB’s loss, we forecast CDB’s CNP to grow by 9.0 per cent y-oy.
“Following the completion of the IT system consolidation and with 5G capital expenditure (capex) borne by DNB, we project CDB’s capex to drop by 22 per cent y-o-y in FY2027,” it said.
It noted that in FY2028, it expects CDB’s CNP to grow by a stronger 12 per cent y-o-y driven by merger cost synergies (mainly from tower lease expiries), and a step-down in the share of DNB’s net loss, while capex is forecast to fall further by 21 per cent y-o-y as 4G investments taper.
