Malaysia-based MOVE Digital, digital arm of Capital A which is formerly known as airasia Superapp, has achieved annual revenue of MYR 689 million ($145 million), marking a 72 percent year on year increase.
Capital A said in a statement on Thursday that MOVE Digital’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) reached MYR 137 million ($28.87 million), a 17 times increase compared to FY2022.
This improvement was propelled by encouraging growth in the flights and SNAP (flight+hotel package) segments throughout the year.
Additionally, AirAsia MOVE strategically invested in marketing efforts during the quarter, capitalizing on school holiday periods starting from mid-December extended into early January, as well as another upcoming term holiday scheduled for early February through early March.
“Our strategy entails a dual focus: first, we will enhance our existing features and offerings, broadening our inventory to provide users with a diverse selection,” said Nadia Omer, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia MOVE.
“Concurrently, we are refining our pricing strategies to optimize margins while indirectly boosting monthly active users and transaction numbers and ultimately drive spending,
“Our overarching goal is to make travel accessible and affordable for everyone, solidifying our position as the preferred online travel agency in ASEAN,” she added.
Meanwhile, Capital A’s payment app BigPay saw its annual revenue rose 42 percent year on year to MYR 45 million ($9.48 million), EBITDA loss narrowing by 44 percent year on year.
The growth trend extended across all core product sectors in the fourth quarter of 2023, which saw payments climbing by 9 percent, remittances by 21 percent, and marketplace sales surging by 157 percent year on year.
This performance underscores the success of BigPay’s strategic shift towards high-quality and profitable products, resulting in improved quarterly performance.
“Our focus in 2023 on unit economics, collaborating with MOVE and the ecosystem, and building more differentiated features has demonstrated results, delivering a gross profitable quarter in 4Q2023 for the first time,” said Zubin Rada Krishnan, Group Chief Executive Officer of BigPay.
“In 2024, we will continue building impactful products, including more friction-less ways to pay for the ASEAN community and budgeting tools and Save to Spend Stashes to encourage responsible financial habits for everyone,
“We remain focused on being the most compelling money platform to level up our customers’ lives, one transaction at a time,” he added.
Meanwhile, Capital A’s logistics business Teleport saw its revenue for the full year rose 56 percent year on year to MYR 731 million ($162 million).
This is reflecting a positive EBITDA of MYR 20 million (4.5 million) in contrast to a negative EBITDA of MYR 26.9 million ($6.1 million) a year ago.
The growth in revenue was driven by increased volume delivered across the region, demonstrated by year on year growth in both cargo tonnage (+88 percent) and e-commerce parcels delivered(+275 percent).
Teleport ended the year moving an average daily e-commerce volume of 130,000 parcels, compared to 34,000 parcels per day for the same quarter last year.
“Teleport’s growth in 2023 is attributed to two key factors – continuous optimization which unlocked our operational capabilities and the recovery and further strengthening of our network and capacity,” said Pete Chareonwongsak, Chief Executive Officer of Teleport.
According to him, the recovery of AirAsia’s flights, the establishment of key partnerships with over 30 partner airlines, allowed them to extend their network and enhance capacity on key lanes.
The injection of three Airbus A321 Freighters (A321F) into their fleet last year, also gave them the added ability to teleport larger, palletized and different types of cargo across the network, he said.
“This in turn enabled us to better serve customers and to scale for further growth in the coming quarters,
“For the year ahead, we will continue to strengthen Teleport’s next-day cross border capabilities with multi-modal, first-to-last-mile capabilities in key markets, and position Teleport as the primary gateway for e-commerce volumes entering ASEAN,” he added.
Going forward, AirAsia MOVE will concentrate on refining its inventory and pricing strategies, with the aim of boosting margins and increasing spending to grow its monthly active and transacting users.
Concurrently, airasia Ride is expanding across key airports in Malaysia, Bangkok, and Bali, with the objective of bolstering driver productivity and expanding market outreach.
Meantime, BigPay has been proactively streamlining its operational expenses and enhancing performance.
These efforts have resulted in a 44 percent reduction in losses for the full year compared to the previous year.
Building on this momentum, BigPay aims to achieve its first EBITDA-positive month by end-2024.
The primary focus continues to revolve around fortifying technology and infrastructure to ensure robust system reliability, enhanced security measures, and optimal cost-efficiency, all in perfect harmony with Capital A’s overarching strategic vision.
Meanwhile, Teleport will focus its efforts on three key strategies.
Firstly, the firm seeks to grow its core network beyond AirAsia as they continue to collaborate with more strategic partner airlines.
Secondly, they are looking to strengthen and extend our end-to-end operational capabilities with multi-modal, first-to-last mile capabilities in key markets, delivering reliable, affordable, next-day cross border logistics solutions in Southeast Asia.
Lastly, to develop a pioneering next-day e-commerce solution between China and ASEAN, the firm is positioning Teleport as the first point of contact for e-commerce volumes moving into ASEAN.
It said the firm remained true to its mission – to move things across Southeast Asia better than anyone else – faster, more affordable and reliable.