October 31 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's dominant fixed-line operator BTC on Wednesday said its unconsolidated net profit for the first nine months of the year fell 10% to 194.9 million levs ($143.9 million/99.6 million euro) as costs rose faster than revenue.
BTC’s market share on the fixed-line market is shrinking as competition is growing. The company set up a wireless unit in late 2005, Vivatel, in an attempt to offset falling revenue from fixed-line services.
Following are figures from BTC's preliminary unconsolidated income statement, filed with the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, where the company is listed (in millions of levs).
|
|
9-mo'07 |
9-mo'06 |
2006 (audited) |
| NET PROFIT |
194.949 |
216.761 |
283.080 |
| PRE-TAX PROFIT |
217.389 |
255.361 |
307.421 |
| SALES REVENUE |
737.113 |
741.304 |
988.945 |
| TOTAL REVENUE |
746.323 |
746.036 |
995.219 |
| TOTAL COSTS |
528.934 |
490.675 |
687.798 |
The unconsolidated results of BTC do not include the performance of Vivatel.
Earlier this year, AIG Global Investment Group (AIGGIG) bought 65% of BTC for 1.08 billion euro (1.5 billion) from Novator, a company owned by Icelandic tycoon Thor Bjorgolfsson. AIGGIG later increased its stake in BTC to 90.07% and said it plans to delist the company from the BSE.
BTC shares last traded at 0808 GMT at 11 levs, unchanged from the previous close. AIGGIG has launched a buyout bid offering to pay 11.30 levs per share to minority shareholders.
(1 euro = 1.95583 Bulgarian levs)