KUALA LUMPUR: Fibre optic cable maker Opcom Holdings Bhd reported improved sales in the April-June quarter and is optimistic about demand going forward.

       The stock surged 29.5 sen to close at RM1.11 on Wednesday, ahead of the latest quarterly results, which were released after the market close.

       In a filing today, Opcom said it made a net profit of RM2.6mil in the first quarter compared with the loss of RM752,000 a year ago.

       However, the company reported a lower operating profit of RM3.3mil compared with RM5mil registered in the immediate preceding quarter ended March 31.

       Quarter-on-quarter, its turnover was little changed at RM22.9mil "The board in cautiously optimistic that the demand for fibre optic cables in Malaysia is expected to increase given the government plans to expand the fibre network infrastructures by laying more fibre optic cables," it said.

       However, the company said "foreign competition continues to be a significant challenge" to its business,