Malaysia's largest telecommunications company, Telekom Malaysia Bhd said today it recorded a net profit of RM2.61 billion in 2004, up 87.9 percent over 2003's RM1.39 billion.

The sharp rise in profits was due to a higher contribution from the cellular segment and an exceptional gain arising from the disposal of its remaining stake in an associate firm, the company said.

Telekom said a significant increase in cellular revenue was mainly due to a full-year contribution from Celcom, compared to only 8.5 months for 2003.

Telekom said its fourth quarter net profit rose 64.9 percent to RM824.2 million from RM499.76 million a year earlier, due to an exceptional gain arising from the disposal of its remaining shareholding in South African-based Telkom SA.

On the outlook for 2005, Telekom said that data usage, cellular and broadband services were expected to continue to grow.

Broadband services

It said the global packet radio service, internet protocol-based products and third-generation (3G) would be services that would drive the mobile voice and data segments.

Broadband services would be rolled out aggressively to meet high customer demand while supporting the government's National Broadband Plan, it said.

Telekom said that its acquisition of PT Excelcomindo Pratama and IDEA Cellular Limited was expected to contribute significantly to future revenue.

It was also rationalizing its investments in Africa to focus on areas closer to home as part of its international business strategy, it said.

Telekom said that with priorities and strategies in place and barring unforeseen circumstances, it was confident that, excluding exceptional gains from the disposal of Telkom SA and other exceptional items in 2004, the group's performance for 2005 would continue to improve.