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Chairman’s StatementI am pleased to report that Axiatarecorded an outstanding performancefor 2009. Against the backdrop ofslowing regional economies and theglobal crisis, Axiata exceeded all itsannounced Headline Key PerformanceIndicators (KPIs). Group Revenuegrew by 15.5% year on year (YoY)to RM13.1 billion, Earnings beforeInterest, Tax, Depreciation andAmortisation (EBITDA) grew 18.4%to RM5.2 billion. Profit after Tax andMinority Interests (PATAMI) surgedby 231.9%, to reach RM1.7 billion andour Returns on Equity (ROE) was11.2% 1 . Total Shareholders Return(TSR) was also up 24% in 2009.I was also very encouraged to seesignificant strengthening of ourcapital structure, through the rightsissue in the second quarter and ther e s u l t a n t c a s h p o s i t i o n . T h edeleveraging of our Balance Sheetsaw Net Debt to EBITDA ratioimprove to 2.0x in 2009 versus3.8x in 2008. This was followed bythe recently completed USD300million Bonds offering, markinganother milestone achievement inour capital management roadmap.Another enhancement came fromthe completed sale of 1.7 billion PTXL Axiata Tbk. (XL) shares, fulfillingA x i a t a ’ s c o m m i t m e n t t o t h eIndonesian regulators to increase thefree float of XL shares on theIndonesia Stock Exchange. Theexercise represents the largestIndonesian secondary equity offeringin more than 10 years.1Stripping out forex gains, ROE was 9% for2009Axiata Group Berhad • 012