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"TRADING of shares of Telekom Malaysia (TM) Sri Lankan subsidiary Dialog Telekom Limited commenced today on the Colombo Stock Exchange under the signature “DIAL”. The Dialog IPO has achieved numerous firsts on Sri Lanka’s capital market including:
· The largest ever IPO in Sri Lanka to the value of Rs.8.5billion
· The highest level of subscription received at an IPO: Rs 56.2billion
· The highest level of overseas subscription received at an IPO: Rs 40billion.

The commencement of trading also sets a new benchmark in terms of being the fastest to commence trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange, just 14 market days from the closure of the issue. It has already been announced that the Dialog IPO was oversubscribed 6.5 times within the first hour of the opening on 7th July 2005, TM’s international investments holding subsidiary TM International said in a statement released in Colombo as well as Kuala Lumpur.

Sri Lankan Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Sarath Amunugama was Guest-of-Honour at the commencement of trading at the Colombo Stock Exchange. Also in attendance were Dialog Telekom and TM Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Ir Mohd Radzi Mansor, TM Group Chief Executive Dato’ Abdul Wahid Omar, TM International CEO Yusof Annuar Yaacob, Dialog Telekom Board members, Dialog Telekom CEO Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, and Malaysian as well as local media.

In his opening address Tan Sri Radzi said: “We have always had the utmost faith in Sri Lanka as an investment destination and have been undeterred by what we would regard as minor fluctuations in the macro environment in the country – we have at all times placed our confidence in our customers and the team at Dialog. We are happy that over 50,000 Sri Lankan citizens and many top tier international funds have joined us in taking the Dialog story to its next chapter”.

Dato’ Abdul Wahid Omar said: “Today is a very significant day for both TM Group and Dialog Telekom. Dialog Telekom has time and again given us reason to be proud of its achievements both operationally and as a corporate entity. The result of the over subscription of the Dialog IPO signifies a tremendous vote of confidence in Sri Lanka as an investment destination and concurrently has created a new dimension to public participation in Sri Lanka’s capital market. This IPO is especially significant for the Colombo Stock Exchange as it facilitates the re-entry of many international institutional investors after an absence of more than a decade.”

In the statement, TM International also said that the company expects proceeds of approximately Rs5 billion or USD50 million from the IPO. Proceeds of the IPO will be utilized to fund future investments. TM’s operations in Sri Lanka via Dialog commenced in 1995, and the company is a flagship investor under the aegis of the Board of Investment (BoI) of Sri Lanka.

Dialog CEO Dr Hans Wijayasuriya attributed the success of Dialog’s IPO to the success of Sri Lanka as an investor’s destination of choice. “This, coupled with TM’s faith in the Sri Lankan consumer as well as the ability of local Sri Lankans to lead the company made for a winning formula,” he said.

Meanwhile, true to Dialog’s commitment to innovation, the company took the unique step of symbolically commencing trading via SMS. The company also announced the launch of a feature that allows ‘trading on your phone’. Operating via GSM and GPRS, this feature allows users to view, buy or sell stocks via SMS, or in the case of GPRS, via a w@p enabled application.

About TM

Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), a leading regional information and communications group, offers a comprehensive range of communication services and solutions in fixed-line, mobile, data and broadband.

As one of the largest listed companies on Bursa Malaysia with an operating revenue of more than RM13 billion, TM is driven to deliver value to its stakeholders in a highly competitive environment.

The Group places emphasis on continuing customer service quality enhancements and innovations. Currently, with investments and operations in 12 countries around Asia and globally, TM is focused on sustainable growth in both the local and international markets.

For further information on TM, visit www.tm.com.my.

About TM International Sdn Bhd

Through its investment-holding arm, TM International, TM is one of the leading regional telecommunications companies with interests in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh. Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia. It also has selected investments in Africa namely in Guinea and Malawi.

TM International has a track record of adding value to its investments, and an approach which focuses on developing the skills and capabilities of its local management teams and working in partnership with these local teams to achieve strong market positions and profitability.

Activated in 2001, TM International contributes significantly to TM’s overall performance. In the financial year ended 31 December 2004, TM’s overseas investments contributed operational profit after tax of RM419.1 million, compared to RM399.8million the previous year.

About Dialog Telekom Limited

Dialog Telekom, Sri Lanka's flagship telecommunications company operates Dialog GSM, the country's largest mobile phone network. In addition to its core business of mobile telephony, the company is a premier provider of International Services, supporting a state of the art international gateway infrastructure providing retail and wholesale international voice and data services under the brand name of Dialog Global. The Company also plays a key role in the Internet Service Provision Market through Dialog Internet – a fully-fledged Internet Service Provider (ISP). The Company also operates Dialog SAT, the country's pioneer Mobile Satellite Service.

Dialog Telekom operates a 2.5G GSM network, supporting the very latest in multimedia and mobile Internet services based on EDGE and GPRS technologies, and also provides International Roaming facilities in over 190 countries. Dialog Telekom provides the widest cellular coverage in the country, and serves over 1.7 Million customers from across all nine provinces of the island. The company’s subscribed base accounts for (approximately) 60% of the country’s mobile sector and 40% of total telecommunication subscribers."