The newly stock-listed telecoms provider CamGSM Plc (ticker symbol: CGSM) reported sound business performance for 2022, with net profit soaring by 45.96 per cent to $40.571 million from $27.796 million a year earlier.

This is according to a financial report filed to the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) on July 11 by the locally-owned firm, which trades as Cellcard.

The Royal Group of Companies Ltd (RGC) member on June 27 listed its Class A (voting) common stock on the CSX’s Main Board as part of plans to expand its business, bring cutting-edge technologies to the Kingdom, and support the government’s digital-economy ambitions.

This came after CamGSM announced the completion of the month-long initial public offering (IPO), with 9,271,206 shares purchased at a price of 2,270 riel, netting around 21 billion riel or $5.2 million.

CSX director for market operations Kim Sopha Nita lauded the nearly 50-per-cent surge in net profit as “very good performance” and “satisfactory news for its shareholders”, and claimed that this would draw the attention of more investors.

“Since its listing, I’ve seen overloaded interest and bulk buying power making the price and trade volume skyrocket. CGSM’s share price increased every day and reached daily upper limits for the last four consecutive days,” she told The Post on July 12.

“At market close on July 11 the share increased 60 per cent compared to IPO. I’ve also seen that some investors are making lots of profits from short-term trading.

“The presence of large conglomerates like Cellcard on the local bourse has shown a win-win outcome for all; for the company itself, for the investors, and for the market. Today [July 12], Cellcard, on top of getting new equity capital, worth over $1.8 billion while it could have been worth only a few hundred millions if not going public,” she added.

CGSM posted total assets and liabilities of $602.413 million and $415.785 million as of end-2022, up 0.09 per cent and down 8.78 per cent year-on-year. Hence, total equity climbed by 27.78 per cent on an annual basis to $186.628 million at December 31.

The report noted that CGSM is wholly-owned by Royal Millicom Co Ltd (RMC), a joint venture owned on a 38.5:61.5 basis by Royal Group Co Ltd and Cayman Islands-incorporated Three Star Investment Cambodia Ltd – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cayman Islands-incorporated Three Star Investment Cayman Ltd, which is wholly-owned by RGC chairman Kith Meng.

It said CGSM was “formed” on April 20, 1996, exactly four months before the incorporation date listed in the company’s entry in the Ministry of Commerce’s business registry.

On the CSX, CGSM’s share price dipped 360 riel or 9.92 per cent to close at 3,270 riel on July 12 for a full market cap of 6.407 trillion riel ($1.553 billion), with 157,346 shares traded worth 514.521 million riel.