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isted tower operator PT Tower Bersama Infrastructure (TBIG) reported on Tuesday that its revenue as of September this year had soared to Rp 1.13 trillion (US$117.52 million), a 65 percent leap compared to the numbers recorded in the same period last year.

The majority of shares in TBIG are owned by Saratoga Capital and Provident Capital.

Net profit hence soared to Rp 555 billion by the third quarter of the year, 62 percent more than the Rp 342 billion during the same period last year.

The company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) has recorded the highest percentage increase, soaring to Rp 920 billion by September of 2012, or 70 percent more than the figure achieved during the same period in 2011. Meanwhile, the EBITDA margin was at 81 percent.

The acquisition of towers from PT Indosat, the second-largest mobile phone operator, finalized on Aug. 2 was elemental in the strong financial results.

“The acquisition of 2,500 towers from Indosat is an important milestone in our company,” said TBIG CEO Hardi Wijaya Liong.

He added that the company added “4,369 tenants during the quarter with a very significant portion of the organic tenant additions coming from co-locations”.

“So, despite the significant increase in the number of towers in the quarter, our tenancy ratio only declined to 1.71 this quarter from 1.80 at the end of the last quarter,” he further said.

As of September, the company owned and operated 8,171 telecommunication sites catering to 12,953 tenants. The telecommunication sites consist of 6,714 telecommunication towers, 1,040 shelter-only sites and 417 distributed antennae system (DAS) networks.

In relation with the acquisition of towers from Indosat, TBIG finance director Helmi Yusman Santoso said that less than two months of revenue from the acquired towers was reflected in the company’s performance in the third quarter, given that the sale was finalized less than two months ago.

He said the entirety of the revenue generated by the tower acquisition would only be known some time in the near future.

Helmi said the majority of the company’s towers were spread across the islands of Java and Bali where operators were servicing large populations of mobile phone service subscribers.

“Outside of those islands, there has been significant growth as well in the eastern side of Indonesia — in Kalimantan and Sulawesi — triggered by economic improvements especially in the big cities,” he said.

He added that the company “remains optimistic” that the company would see additions in the number of tenants given that the telecommunication business was in an upbeat mode.

Indonesia’s largest mobile phone operator, PT Telekomunikasi Seluler (Telkomsel), alone recorded a revenue of Rp 39.8 trillion, or 11 percent more than figures in the same period last year, as the company boosts up data and broadband-based Value Added Service (VAS) to its 121 million subscribers.

“The availability of new [telecommunication] technologies, improved subscriber numbers and increases in minutes of usage equals significant capital expenditures,” he noted.