MyRepublic is profitable, raised half of the money needed to start 4th telco

Internet service provider MyRepublic has been mounting an aggressive bid to be Singapore’s fourth telco. A recent story from Today however casted doubt on their ability to pull it off.

The financial statement of the unlisted fibre services company, a copy of which Today obtained, showed that it made losses of US$6.97 million in Singapore last year. With 35,252 active fibre broadband subscribers in Singapore, it had revenue of US$16 million.

It also enlisted DBS Group Holdings and Goldman Sachs to raise US$186 million in funds to roll out the mobile network — the amount it said is needed to roll out a network. But no funds have been raised so far, Today has learned.

MyRepublic is also unprofitable on its New Zealand operations — losses were US$3.88 million last year, according to the financial statement.

The company has since disputed some of these claims. In a press release, it says that it has been EBITDA-positive since January this year.

It told The Middle Ground that it has a loan facility secured for half of the US$186 million. It has received offers to fund the other half, and expects to raise the complete amount by July.

“Yes, DBS and Goldman Sachs have been working hard, and they have been struggling to some extent. But we’re meeting some companies, and we are confident that we will get US$111 million in private equity by the time of the auction,” the company’s CEO, Malcolm Rodrigues, told Today.

However, he has conceded that the company is in the red in Indonesia.

Running a telco is an expensive business, and OMGtel, a rival that’s also trying to win the bid to be Singapore’s fourth telco, said it’ll need US$744 million to set up a network.

However, Malcolm insisted that US$186 million is enough, claiming that MyRepublic already has 80 percent of the pieces in place.

Said the company in a press release: “Unlike traditional telcos who have to acquire multi-million dollar systems and build operations from scratch, MyRepublic will leverage and build upon its existing fixed business and adopt the latest network technologies.”

Converted from Singapore and New Zealand dollars. US$1 = NZ$1.4, S$1.34.