Time dotCom 3Q net profit leaps 77% to RM50 mil on higher data revenue

by **Cals** Wed 26 Nov 2014, 02:35

Time dotCom 3Q net profit leaps 77% to RM50 mil on higher data revenue

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 25): Time dotCom Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Financial Dashboard)'s net profit leaped 77% to RM50 million in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014 (3QFY14) from RM28.2 million in the same quarter a year earlier, due to higher data revenue from global bandwidth sales and data centre income.
Revenue for the quarter under review climbed 14% to RM150.6 million from RM131.9 million in the same period last year year, the group's filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.
Additionally, the group said a one-off reversal of an RM11 million provision after a settlement of a dispute with a supplier, as well as a higher dividend income of RM8.8 million from quoted securities held, had also boosted its quarterly profit.
Its earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter stood at 8.72 sen, compared to 4.93 sen in 3QFY13.
However, in the nine months to Sept 30 (9MFY14), net profit plunged 73% to RM123.4 million from RM454.7 million in the year before, despite a 10% increase in revenue to RM438.2 million from RM399.0 million.
The drastic drop in its 9MFY14 net profit was due to a fair value gain from available-for-sale financial assets of RM349.4 million in the previous year.
"Excluding this, the group's 9MFY14 pre-tax profit of RM128.4 million would have resulted in an increase of RM16.6 million or 14.8% compared to the adjusted pre-tax profit of RM111.8 million recorded in 9MFY13," said the group.
Moving forward, the group will continue to increase its market share and further expand its fibre network and coverage, while also unlocking the potential of its data centre, submarine cable and global bandwith businesses, it said.
It currently has a stake in Unity Cable System, the Asia-Pacific Gateway, the Asia-Africa-Europe-1, and also the FASTER submarine cables.
"Some of the abovementioned initiatives are capital intensive and may result in some margin compression for the group in 2014 and 2015. The said initiatives are, however, necessary to ensure continued revenue growth in the future and are expected to benefit the group in the longer term," said the group, adding that it expects positive results for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014.
It closed the day 19 sen higher at RM5.25, with a market capitalisation of RM3.01 billion.