Malaysia's OCK spreading wings in Myanmar

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Malaysia's OCK spreading wings in Myanmar

PETALING JAYA: Telecommunications network services provider OCK Group is in the final stages of getting a contract from Telenor's Myanmar unit to build and lease more than 900 towers in the country.

Sources told StarBiz that the contract would last for 12 years and all the towers under this phase were expected to be completed next year. "They are targeting to seal the deal by next month," said a person with knowledge of the matter.

Norwegian telecommunications provider Telenor commands a 36-per-cent market share in Myanmar, with the other operators in the country being MPT and Ooredoo.

OCK Group said in a statement that it had entered a memorandum of understanding with Telenor Myanmar alongside local partner King Royal Technologies.

Meanwhile, the company's revenue for the third quarter ended September 30 rose 75 per cent to 83.7 million ringgit (Bt706 million) year on year, mainly on a higher contribution from its core telecommunication network services.

In tandem with the increase in the revenue, its bottom line rose by 62.5 per cent to 4.89 million ringgit year on year.

The telecom-network segment, which made up 84 per cent of its revenue, surged by 87 per cent from the previous quarter.

"The substantial higher revenue from telecommunication-network services was due to contribution from its regional business in Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar and China, as well as significantly higher contribution from a subsidiary undertaking site-maintenance works in Malaysia and the distribution of telecommunication equipment in Malaysia," the company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Group managing director Sam Ooi said the company's strategy to strengthen recurring income and expand regionally had been effective.

"More than 15 per cent of our revenue now comes from regional markets, from merely 5 per cent last year. We are continuously looking out for more opportunities in these regional markets," he said in the statement.

OCK manages more than 24,000 telecom sites in Indonesia and Malaysia.

For the first nine months, revenue rose 64 per cent to 210 million ringgit compared with a year earlier.

Net profit for the period jumped 44.6 per cent to 13.09 million ringgit from 9.05 million ringgit last year.

The green energy and power solution business was the second-largest income contributor, making up 7 per cent of revenue.

"OCK will continue to participate via the feed-in tariff programme, whereby the Sustainable Energy Development Authority Malaysia will continue to release annual quotas for solar energy," it noted.

The company's solar plants, through direct ownership and |partnerships with licence owners, produce 2.15 megawatts of solar energy.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Malaysias-OCK-spreading-wings-in-Myanmar-30273883.html

-- The Nation 2015-11-28