Telekom Malaysia Q2 drops 61 pct on year

KUALA LUMPUR Aug 19 (Reuters) - Telekom Malaysia (TLMM.KL), the country's top fixed-line operator, reported on Tuesday a 61 percent drop in quarterly profit.

Telekom Malaysia, which has a more than 90 percent share in the fixed-line and broadband market, earned 273.17 million ringgit ($81.82 million) in the second quarter ended June 30. That compared with a net profit of 701 million ringgit or 20.5 sen a share in the year-ago period.

Telekom Malaysia was expected to post a 68 percent drop in full-year profit to 808.55 million ringgit or 23.5 sen a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

The state-controlled company spun off its mobile phone and overseas operations April this year while keeping the fixed-line data, voice and broadband business.

The company said it would continue to engage with the government on a 15.2 billion ringgit project to build the country's high-speed broadband network following the demerger.

Telekom Malaysia shares fell 6.6 percent in the three months to June 30, compared with a 4.9 percent loss in the benchmark index .KLSE. Telekom shares closed 0.6 percent down at 3.50 ringgit on Tuesday before the company released its results. ($1=3.338 Malaysian Ringgit) (Reporting by Soo Ai Peng and Liau Y-Sing; Editing by Louise Heavens)