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Technology Stocks : Pacific Internet Next HOT IPO? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Hua who wrote (374)	3/14/1999 9:45:00 PM
From: Herc	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 912

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Singapore internet service provider Pacific Internet Ltd. (PCNTF) expects to generate profits from its Hong Kong operation this year as a result of a new push to sell its service to Hong Kong's consumer market, the company's chief executive said. The Nasdaq-listed company broke even in 1998 after three years in Hong Kong, Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Lee said recently. The company entered the Hong Kong market in 1996. Pacific Internet erred by staying out of the consumer market for internet services in Hong Kong and instead focused on selling leased-line internet services to the corporate market there, he said. Lee declined to disclose specific profit forecasts. The company currently has 32,000 subscribers in Hong Kong. "We weren't aggressive as we should have been. We want a piece of that (consumer) market," Lee said. The company's renewed push into the market now is a "correction of that mistake," he said. The company Monday will rename its wholly owned Hong Kong Supernet service to Pacific SuperNet and will be aggressively marketing its service in coming months, Lee said. Pacific Internet, part of the Singapore government-linked conglomerate, SembCorp Industries Ltd. (P.SWG), has invested several million U.S. dollars in new equipment and co-located its internet facility with Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), he said. With the investment, the company expects to double its subscriber base to about 60,000 in the next 12 months, said Lee. Aggressive Marketing Soon Pacific Internet, which was listed on Nasdaq in February, broke even last year in its Hong Kong operation, Lee said, but he declined to give details. The company is expected to release its 1998 results later this month. Hong Kong is a tough market, Lee said. "Few or none of the internet service providers are making money," he continued. "We are probably the most expensive ISP (internet service provider) in Hong Kong and that's probably why we are not losing money." In the re-launch, Pacific SuperNet will tailor its consumer marketing after a model developed in Singapore and the Philippines to suit the nuances of the Hong Kong consumer market, Lee said. The company will set up several retail shops across Hong Kong to penetrate the consumer market, Lee said. The company has just set up a shop in Mong Kok in Kowloon. "What you will see is a very aggressive consumer marketing campaign," Lee said. Looking further ahead, Lee said Pacific Internet will start operating in Australia later this year and expects to get an internet service provider license in India soon. Along with Singapore and Hong Kong, the company also already provides internet access in the Philippines. Lee said that by mid-2000, the company will generate a "substantial" portion of its profits from outside Singapore. For nine months to the end of September 1998, the company generated revenues of S$10 million, with three quarters of that coming from its Singapore operations. -By Joseph Rajendran; 65 421 4800.