MOVE Digital, the digital arm of Malaysia-based Capital A, saw its revenue fell 18 percent year on year to MYR 130.2 million ($27.68 million) in the first quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Capital A said in a statement on Wednesday that the drop was mainly attributed to decline in sale of AirAsia flights due to heightened price competition in the online travel agency (OTA) landscape, and the cessation of commissions from sales through third-party agents, as the airline has shifted to handling this transactions directly.

However, this was mitigated by a slight increase in sales in other segments.

It is noted that AirAsia MOVE, its integrated travel and financial platform, was the primary revenue driver, contributing 92 percent of the total revenue.

AirAsia MOVE reported an (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) EBITDA loss of MYR 7.7 million ($1.64 million) in the first quarter.

Moving forward, AirAsia MOVE will concentrate on enhancing conversion rates and user stickiness, cultivating an active user base that will generate sustainable revenue through increased platform usage.

It will be focusing on boosting its flight and hotel take-up rates by intensifying its cross-selling efforts and bundle deals.

Additionally, AirAsia MOVE will be deploying targeted and engaging loyalty campaigns via its Rewards Program that will drive user retention.

Meanwhile, its digital wallet platform BigPay quarterly revenue grew 2 percent year on year to MYR 11 million ($2.34 million), as its focus on cost optimization initiatives paid off significantly.

The platform’s EBITDA loss narrowed by a notable 35 percent year on year, demonstrating strong progress in financial discipline and efficiency.

According to the statement, BigPay is also actively exploring a transition into a regional neobank through partnerships with established traditional banking institutions.

The plan is to combine BigPay’s extensive ewallet experience and customer engagement with the robust financial infrastructure and regulatory compliance of traditional banks.

This will not only allow BigPay to develop innovative digital banking solutions but also expand its reach into the business to business (B2B) segment.

BigPay targets to be EBITDA positive by the fourth quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, Capital A’s logistics arm Teleport, saw its quarterly revenue increase by 48 percent year on year to MYR 224 million ($47.3 million), thanks to increased volumes delivered across the region.

Both cargo tonnage and e-commerce parcels saw year on year growth of 79 percent and 176 percent respectively, while the daily average parcel volumes reached a new high of 172,000 parcels.

This supported its EBITDA profitability of MYR 5.3 million ($1.1 million) during the quarter, against a backdrop of normalizing yields across the industry.

“We’ve entered the most exciting phase of our next five-year growth cycle, with a clear mission to make fast, affordable and reliable next day delivery a reality for all businesses in Asean for the first time,

“By 2025, we aim to deliver two million parcels daily,” said Pete Chareonwongsak, Chief Executive Officer of Teleport.

According to him, the firm’s roadmap to achieve this is anchored on investing heavily into its first to last mile infrastructure to gain better control of its network, enabled by the right use of technology.

“This will ensure we can better serve our customers and scale for growth in the coming quarters, while maintaining profitability for the company,” he said.

Additionally, he noted Teleport also signed with VietJet Air Cargo in March as the newest Air Partner, alongside AirAsia Aviation Group and more than 30 other airlines.

“Through this partnership, we will be managing the belly capacity of Vietjet from India to Vietnam, and onward through Teleport’s Asia Pacific network,

“This is one of many partnerships in the pipeline this year that will build a combined network to better serve the growing air cargo demand connecting into and out of ASEAN,” he added.

AirAsia MOVE’s monthly active users up 19 percent year on year to 15.34 million