TM : Net Profit Surges to RM400.6m

By Zaidi Isham Ismail

Published: 2011/02/26

Telekom Malaysia Bhd's (4863)net profit for the fourth quarter ended December 2010 almost doubled to RM400.6 million from RM170.2 million in the comparable quarter in 2009.




This was mainly attributed to higher revenue from data, Internet and multimedia and non-telecommunications related services.

Group revenue climbed 2.1 per cent to RM2.3 billion from RM2.2 billion which mitigated the impact of lower revenue from voice and other telecommunications related services.

For the full year, its net profit doubled to RM1.2 billion while revenue edged up slightly to RM8.7 billion from RM8.6 billion.

TM group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Zamzamzairani Mohd Isa said its prospects for the current financial are positive in line with the country's economic recovery which started in mid 2009 and will continue this year.

"TM sees itself working hand in hand with the government especially in business service and communications content and infrastructure," Zamzamraini told reporters at TM's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

He added TM will continue to expand its data centre footprint aimed at positioning Malaysia as a world-class data centre hub.

TM's group data revenue increased 14.4 per cent in fourth quarter to RM490.8 million compared to RM428.9 million in the same quarter 2009 arising from demand for higher bandwidth services.

Internet and multimedia registered higher revenue by 12.6 per cent to RM436.6 million in the arising from increased broadband customers to 1.68 million from 1.43 million in the corresponding quarter in 2009.

Group operating profit before finance cost of RM408.3 million increased 55.4 per cent compared to RM262.8 million recorded in the same quarter last year. This was largely due to higher operating revenue and higher gain on disposal of available-for-sale investments net of higher depreciation, impairment and amortisation.

TM's fibre optic fixed line UniFi has strengthened its market leadership in high speed broadband with close to 50,000 subscribers activated as of February 22.

TM has more than 780,000 premises passed covering a total of 60 exchange areas spanning 770km. These include the inner Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia, and Northern Corridor Economic Region.

The group is on track to deliver a total of 1.1 million premises passed by end 2011 covering 78 exchange areas.

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/TMONE/Article/