11 - 17 May 2000

Maltacom continues to increase profits

by Ivan Brincat

Maltacom plc continued to increase its profits during the first quarter of the year and managed to surpass the1999 figures which was also a very positive year for the company.

International outgoing voice traffic went up by five per cent as did domestic volume traffic at 5.8 per cent. However, the greatest increase registered over the first three months of the year was in local and international cellular interconnection traffic. The former was up by 60 per cent while the latter up by 46 per cent.

If one were to take the annual figures, in 1999 local cellular interconnection traffic had increased by 40 per cent over the previous year while international cellular interconnection traffic had been up by 62 per cent.

To add to these results, Maltacom announced this week that it has received the much-awaited import licence for mobile telecommunications equipment. Maltacom chairman Maurice Zarb Adami said it was the company's intention to offer mobile telephony before the end of the year. The first target date has been set for September even though this could be extended even till Christmas depending on when the telecommunciations regulator grants them the frequencies.

The group turnover from January to March 2000 increased by Lm1m and stood at Lm10.7m while the profits of the company also increased.The Maltacom group is composed of a number of companies, some fully owned by the company and others in which Maltacom have a shareholding interest.

It has 100 per cent shareholding in Maltacom training college, Pink - a call centre, Allcom, Terranet, Mobisle, TMS and Datastream. It has 80 per cent shareholding in Telepage as well as 30 per cent in Datatrak, 20 per cent in Vodafone and Elsacom and 15 per cent in Maltapost.

To be able to offer its own mobile services, Maltacom will have to sell its 20 per cent shareholding in Vodafone.

Among the highlights of the first three months of the year was the launch of ISDN as well as ADSL, with the start of the pilot project.

The earnings per share increased from 1c9 to 2c1 and the projected earnings per share for the whole year is estimated to be higher than 8c4 since the first quarter of the year reflects just 22 per cent of the company's year due to increase in traffic as a result of a higher number of tourists.