ATH records $51m profit, share price spikes

July 01, 2009 05:02:50 PM

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Telecommunications conglomerate Amalgamated Telecom Holdings (ATH) this week reported a consolidated net profit after tax of $51.9 million for the year ended June 30, 2009 on the back of a sales revenue of $284.2 million, most of that generated in the Fiji market.

This however was a 19 percent drop in net profit from last year.

The telecom giant’s draft financial statement filed at South Pacific Stock Exchange (SPSE) saw it reporting a 5.4 percent increase in sales revenue this financial year, compared to the same period last year, although total sales costs also went up by 32 percent from $56 million to $75 million. 

ATH, in which the Fiji National Provident Fund has a 58.2 percent stakes alongside government’s 34.6 percent, is listed on SPSE. 

The profit announcement coincided with a flurry of trades in ATH stocks, sending it to a comfortable high of $1.15 per share yesterday, after spending weeks at $1.07.

“Decline in consumer spending was experienced especially in the last quarter of the financial year,” ATH noted in its financial statements. 

“This is due to a combination of the flow on effects of the global financial crisis, and relatively weak trading conditions in the domestic economy due to the effect of flooding in January.  Consolidated sales revenue increased due mainly to our mobile business.”

Competition in the mobile market, which began on October 1, 2008, had also impacted upon Group earnings, it said. 

ATH is currently without a full board of directors, following last week’s board overhaul at FNPF, who has yet to appoint its representatives on the ATH board. 

ATH CEO Tomasi Vakatora told FijiLive a full statement on ATH’s financial results would be made as soon as the FNPF representatives are named and the full board meets.

ATH is the parent company of domestic telephone operator Telecom Fiji Ltd, owns 51 percent in Vodafone Fiji Ltd and also holds the rights to manage the Fiji government’s 51 percent shareholding in international provider FINTEL (Fiji International Telecommunications Ltd). 

ATH’s net assets as at June 30, 2009 stood at $241.6 million.