Local telecom operator Asia Pacific Telecom Group (亞太電信集團) yesterday said its board had scrapped plans for NT$20 billion (US$658 million) in new share sales because of its improving financial situation.
The company’s decision came after it failed to find strategic partners to buy a stake by subscribing to new shares of unlisted Asia Pacific prior to a July 15 deadline.
The company had approached Japan’s No. 2 cellphone operator, KDDI Corp, to sell its shares.
The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA, 台鐵) is the biggest shareholder of Asia Pacific, with a 12 percent share.
“We are not in a rush to raise funds by selling new shares as we are now making [enough] profit to support the company’s operation,” company spokeswoman Ester Chang (張瓊文) said by phone.
The company kept its goal of breaking even this year in terms of operating income, Chang said.
Helped by NT$3 billion in asset gains, Asia Pacific returned to profit last year with NT$0.02 per share, compared with a loss of NT$6.95 per share the previous year.
The company hopes to increase cellphone subscribers to 2 million by the end of this year, up about 60 percent from last year.
In April, the company canceled 50 percent of its outstanding shares to dilute accumulated losses. The company now has 3.28 billion outstanding shares, down from 6.58 billion shares.
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