TM posts 4Q loss on the back of Celcom payment

Telekom Malaysia has posted a net loss of MYR701.3 million (USD189 million) in the fourth quarter of 2005, compared to a MYR824.2 profit in 4Q04, largely due to its previously disclosed payment of almost MYR879.5 million to settle a legal dispute with Germany’s Deutsche Telekom. Telekom Malaysia was forced to pay DeTeAsia, a unit of Deutsche Telekom, the compensation after the International Court of Arbitration ruled against its mobile subsidiary Celcom for breach of contract related to the sale of the operator to Telekom in 2003. Fourth quarter revenues rose 8.3% year-on-year to MYR3.75 billion, helped by a larger contribution from its mobile business following its acquisition of a stake in Indonesian network operator PT Excelcomindo Pratama. Full year revenues grew 5.2% on 2004 to MYR13.94 billion, but the 4Q payment meant full-year net profit fell to MYR875.2 million, down from MYR2.61 billion. Telekom Malaysia’s total mobile customer base surpassed 20 million, of which 6.9 million were domestic customers of Celcom, up 158% on the 7.9 million users reported at the end of 2004; the total number of fixed line customers stood at 4.4 million.