AIM Eyes Telecoms, Transport Firms
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Nov 13, 2006 - New Straits Times


MESDAQ'S Advanced Information Marketing Bhd (AIM), a customer-loyalty programme provider, is talking to potential buyers from the telecommunication and transport sectors to expand its present clientele which currently include banks, retailers as well as oil and gas players.

AIM which was listed last April, manages its clients' customer-loyalty schemes to enable them to focus on their core businesses.

Kuala Lumpur-based AIM, whose business is entirely locally-based, counts names like AmBank, L'Oreal and Exxon Mobil as clients.

"Negotiation are underway, and we hope to finalise the talks as soon as possible, "Ooi Hooi Cheng, general manager of Customer Loyalty Solutions Sdn Bhd (CLS), a wholly-owned unit of AIM, told Business Times recently.

"The financial institution market is our best segment currently," Ooi added.

CLS is associated with companies that manage RealRewards in Malaysia and MoreRewards in Singapore. Both schemes have a combined card membership of more than five million.

In the nine months to September 2006, AIM earned a RM6.5 million net profit on RM31.6 million revenue.

In its fillings to Bursa Malaysia, AIM said its performance during the period was in line with its full-year RM9 million net profit and RM41.6 million revenue targets.

AIM, which is linked to global customer-loyalty expert COLLOQUY, may consider acquiring foreign entities in countries like Indonesia and Thailand to expand the group's geographical reach.

The company's global initiative may also lead to strategic cooperation with key players in developed markets like Japan, North America and Europe.

According to research house Frost & Sullivan, the Malaysian loyalty programme market, valued at RM2.5 billion in 2005, is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 9.8 per cent to RM3.53 billion in 2005.