PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk Continues to Suffer Losses for a Decade

PT Smartfren Telecom Tbk has recorded losses for the past decade, from 2011 to 2020. Even in the first half of 2021, this telecommunications company, traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange under the code FREN, continued to report losses. Intense competition and high costs in the telecommunications sector have resulted in continuous losses for FREN.

According to the published financial reports, FREN incurred a loss of Rp 1.53 trillion in December 2020. This loss was a 30.36% decrease from the previous year's loss of Rp 2.19 trillion.

As a result, this Sinarmas Group telecommunications company recorded an average loss of Rp 2.1 trillion over the past 10 years. The largest loss occurred in 2018, amounting to Rp 3.55 trillion.

In the first half of 2021, FREN again recorded a loss of Rp 451.91 billion. However, this loss decreased by 63% compared to Rp 1.22 trillion in the first half of 2020. The decrease in FREN's losses was supported by a 15.05% increase in net revenue to Rp 4.95 trillion in the first half of this year compared to the first half of the previous year.

Meanwhile, operating expenses decreased by 2.71% to Rp 5.03 trillion. In addition, other expenses also decreased by 9.87% to Rp 511.34 billion in the first half of this year compared to the first half of the previous year.

The improvement in Smartfren's financial performance was positively received by investors on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). In trading on Monday, August 23, 2021, the price of FREN shares closed up Rp 8 per share (6.54%) to Rp 133 per share from the previous closing price. Compared to the end of December 2020, the price of FREN shares has surged 98.51% year-to-date (YTD).