Perth-based Amcom Telecommunications Ltd has announced an 82 per cent jump in net profit to $3.2 million for the year ended June 30 2006, compared to $1.8 million in the previous financial year.
The company had announced a 30 per cent growth in revenue to $31.5 million, reporting growth in the company's fibre networks and Amnet Digital Subscriber Line divisions.
Having reduced its EBITDA loss to $200,000, from $1.1 million in the previous year, Amcom nonetheless expects to improve next year following its acquisition of WA-based Internet Service Provider Arachnet in September 2005 and rollout of another 15 Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexers in Perth
The company's fibre division had lifted revenue by 17 per cent after winning a $7.3 million contract to build, manage and access a 92 kilometre fibre-optic network throughout Adelaide.
Amcom also announced a derivative income after tax of $1.6 million, implemented as a result of the company's adjustment to AIFRS, and in light of its acquisition of an $18.9 per cent stake in Perth-based ISP iiNet ltd, funded through an interest free financing facility of $20.5 million from Futuris Corp Ltd.
This brings the company's net profit after tax and derivative income to $4.8 million, an increase of 170 per cent.
As WA Business News noted at the time, Futuris has previously played a patient game as an investor, holding significant stakes around the 15-20 per cent level in various companies that were considered as takeover or merger targets. The Amcom stake, purchased when iiNet was experiencing a share slump at 83 cents, puts the company barely under the threshold which would require a takeover bid.
However Amcom managing director Eddy Lee played down talk of a takeover bid.
The company will distribute a dividend of around 0.4 cents per share, covered by a 112 per cent rise in earnings per share to 0.87 cents per share before derivative income.
Amcom chairman Tony Grist said in an announcement that he expected the company's Amnet division to become profitable in the 2007 financial year, and that its Fibre division would continue to grow.
