Indonesia-based XL Axiata argued its finances had been strengthened by making early payments on its corporate debt after completing a rights issue to raise IDR5 trillion ($330.4 million) in new capital.

In a statement, director and CFO Budi Pramantika noted the rights issue bolstered XL’s capital structure.

The early debt repayment has “the potential to reduce interest expenses by up to around IDR300 billion in 2023”, he said.

XL made six debt payments totalling IDR5 trillion to four banks in late 2022 and early January.

The capital increase involved issuing about 2.4 million new shares, representing 18.3 per cent of the company’s fully paid-up capital.

GSMA Intelligence data placed XL as the third-largest mobile player in Indonesia at end-2022 with 56.3 million mobile connections.

Its most recent earnings showed a 22.8 per cent year-on-year rise in net profit to MYR119.6 million ($27.8 million) and a 13.1 per cent increase in revenue.