TIME dotCom Berhad, the ASEAN-focused data and telecommunications solutions provider, today announced continued growth and steady performance for its first quarter ended 31 March 2014.
Group revenue stood at RM131.9 million for the period. Excluding non-recurring income from one-off contracts and global bandwidth sales, revenue grew by 10% compared to the same quarter last year. Revenue growth in the period was mainly attributable to higher data and data centre contributions.
TIME also reported profit before tax (PBT) of RM31.8 million for the first quarter of 2014. Excluding such non-recurring items, PBT registered a 28% increase from a year ago.
Overall, TIME’s fixed-line business anchored profits, while improved yields, cost efficiencies and higher dividend income from the Group’s quoted equity investments boosted earnings in the period.
“Demand for faster connectivity has continued to drive our businesses,” said Afzal Abdul Rahim, TIME’s Chief Executive Officer.
For the remainder of the year, TIME expects earnings growth to continue with the strong demand for higher speed bandwidth and mobile node fiberisation requirements by mobile operators. The rollout of LTE networks (fiber) is expected to bring in more avenues for growth.
TIME said that it aims to expand both locally and regionally, particularly in Southeast Asia, which has yet to obtain access to quality, high-speed data connectivity.
“The upward trend in bandwidth demand around the region is extremely positive for the Group,” Afzal said. “We have the right strategies in place to capture this demand.”
Afzal added that significant growth remains by unlocking value in its data centre and global bandwidth businesses, as well as its submarine cable investments.
TIME’s recent announcement of its participation in a consortium to build a new submarine cable system, Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1), linking Asia and Europe via the Middle East, will further augment TIME’s global bandwidth business, it said.
TIME expects that AAE-1 and its other strategic stakes in global submarine cables like Unity and the Asia Pacific Gateway (APG) will contribute positively to the Group’s earnings in the future.
