CelcomDigi’s Next Chapter: Compounder or Value Trap?

CelcomDigi is now Malaysia’s largest mobile operator — the product of a merger that promised scale, synergy, and a new growth chapter for the nation’s telecom sector.

Two years on, the Group stands as an undisputed market leader, connecting over 20 million customers through a converged, 5G-ready network. Yet behind this dominance lies a deeper question: has the merger truly created value, or has it merely reshaped the numbers?

The merger of Celcom and Digi was hailed as a strategic masterstroke — cost savings, efficiency gains, and a stronger platform for enterprise growth.

But when you strip away the headlines and look closely at the fundamentals, the story becomes far less straightforward. Revenue growth has barely moved, margins have continued to narrow, and fixed costs remain stubbornly high.

Still, CelcomDigi’s returns exceed its cost of capital — a sign of value creation at the business level. But translating that into shareholder wealth is another matter entirely.

I broke down CelcomDigi’s performance through two lenses — absolute and peer-relative — to reveal where it truly stands in the spectrum between compounder and value trap.

Is CelcomDigi quietly building long-term value beneath the surface — or has it already peaked as a mature, cash-rich incumbent? The answer lies not in its size, but in what that scale has (and hasn’t) achieved.

This is not a story about telcos alone; it is about the fine line between stability and stagnation — and why even market leaders can become value traps when scale stops translating into growth.

For more insights read CelcomDigi’s Next Chapter: Compounder or Value Trap? https://www.i4value.asia/2025/09/celcomdigis-next-chapter-compounder-or.html#more