KUALA LUMPUR: TIME DOTCOM BHD [] (TdC) posted a net profit of RM11.94 million for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2009 (3Q09) versus a net loss of RM3.5 million in 3Q08, as an improvement in its operating results offset one-time voluntary separation scheme (VSS) payments.

This was the second consecutive quarterly net profit for TdC, which turned around with a net profit of RM24.5 million in its second quarter (2Q) from a RM34.7 million net loss in its first quarter.

Revenue declined 8.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM69.93 million while earnings per share improved to 0.47 sen from loss per share of 0.14 sen.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, TdC said the decrease in revenue was due mainly to a lower voice revenue of RM16.2 million arising from the disposal of its payphone business early in 2Q.

"The decrease however was mitigated by the increase in data, managed services and internet revenue by RM9.9 million," it added.

For the nine-month period, net profit fell sharply to RM1.7 million from RM542.4 million a year earlier, when it booked a gain of RM617 million from the transfer of its 3G spectrum.

"Without the gain on transfer in 2008, 2009 year-to-date profit after tax had improved by RM76.3 million from a loss of RM74.6 million in 2008," the company said.

Revenue for the nine months dipped 0.79% to RM211.8 million compared to a year earlier.

The company said the group continued to improve its operating margin in the period under review and the trend was expected to sustain in the following quarter.

On its economic profit statement, a voluntary disclosure under the GLC Transformation Programme, the company said its economic loss for the September quarter was reduced to RM18 million from a year earlier.

It said the improvement was due to an increase in net operating profit after tax at RM21 million, compared with RM7.97 million earlier, as well as lower average invested capital following the disposal of DiGi shares, albeit higher weighted average cost of capital.

Economic profit is a measure of value created by a business during a single period, reflecting how much return a business makes over its cost of capital.

Meanwhile, TIME ENGINEERING BHD [] reported a sharp drop y-o-y in its net profit for the September quarter and a marginal rise in revenue.

Net profit fell to RM254,000 from RM8.34 million, while revenue increased to RM30.64 million from RM29.67 million.

It told Bursa Malaysia that 2009 was a challenging year for the ICT sector.

Nevertheless, it said the group was now poised to pursue growth opportunities in its business areas of e-commerce and ICT services after the completion of its debt restructuring, resulting in the upliftment of its PN17 status on Nov 5, 2009, and the award of the five-year contract of National Single Window by the government on Sept 18.