KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1): Opcom Holdings Bhd is expecting an increase in demand for fiber optic cables domestically as a result of the Government's call for doubling of broadband speed to Malaysian consumers.

In its latest annual report, filed yesterday for the financial year ended March 31, 2018, the fiber optic cable manufacturer said: "The current supply shortage of optical fiber is expected to ease, and should the Malaysian ringgit recover vis-à-vis the major currencies — we could see better operating results from our fiber optic cable business.

"With a better economic outlook for the second half of 2018, we hope to see an increase in the demand for fiber optic cables domestically especially with the Government's call for doubling of broadband speed to Malaysian consumers."

The company also expects its engineering services subsidiary Opcom Engineering Services Sdn Bhd to add new business mandates to the current order pipeline in 2018.

However, the group expects the current financial year to be challenging due to anticipated lower business volume from its fiber optic cable business, weaker ringgit and increased raw material cost.

Opcom announced yesterday that it had bagged an RM11.16 million contract from Telekom Malaysia Bhd for Unifi service installation and restoration.

The group's subsidiary Opcom Cables Sdn Bhd will undertake the work over an 18-month period ending Dec 31, 2019.

At 10.48am today, Opcom rose 6.38% or 6 sen to RM1 with 16.7 million shares done.