November 20 (SeeNews) - Majority state-owned Telekom Slovenije said on Friday its group net profit fell by 55% on the year to 34.1 million euro ($50.6 million) in the first nine months of 2009.
Consolidated net profit in 2009 is expected to be down 50% to 55% on that recorded in 2008, the telecoms group said in its unaudited nine-month financial report posted on its website.
Telekom Slovenije reported consolidated net earnings of 86 million euro in 2008.
The group‘s operating revenues in 2009 will remain at the level of 2008, despite growth in Macedonia and Kosovo and a decline on the domestic market, the statement said.
"Between January and September 2009, the operating revenues of Telekom Slovenia Group reached 637.2 million euro, staying flat compared to the same period in 2008."
The company generated consolidated operating revenues of 851.7 million euro in 2008.
Group EBITDA fell 15% on the year to 209.6 million euro through September.
"Investments in 2009 will be down about 30% on the intensive level recorded in 2008, in line with the company‘s investment policy. This forecast does not include expenditure related to the construction of the DBV-T (digital TV) network in Macedonia, for which a licence has already been obtained. The investment in the DBV-T network in 2009 is estimated at 26 million euro. Including this sum, overall investment in 2009 will be down about 20% on the previous year."
In the first nine months, the group invested 126.7 million euro in the construction, upgrade and development of networks and services, of which 89.6 million euro were spent in Slovenia and the rest on the markets of southeast Europe (SEE), where the Group has its subsidiaries. Parent company, Telekom Slovenije, invested the most – 50.7 million euro, followed by Slovenia-based wireless unit Mobitel with 33.2 million euro and Kosovo-based wireless unit Ipko with 18.3 million euro, Telekom Slovenije said in the statement.
In addition to Slovenia, Macedonia and Kosovo, Telekom Slovenije Group is also active in Bosnia, Albania and Croatia.
Mobitel, the group’s largest subsidiary, generated 306.9 million euro in operating revenues in the first nine months of the year, which is 11% below last year’s figure. Compared to the first three quarters of last year, the operating expenditure was 3.0% lower. The company’s net profit amounted to 29.9 million euro, down 42% compared to January-September 2008, it added.
Ipko holds a 62% market share in broadband access and a 34% market share in mobile telephony. Compared to the same period last year, the company’s revenues increased by 42%. Operating profit meanwhile amounted to 3.6 million euro. Because of high start-up costs and expenses for loans the company remained in the red, however, the loss was almost four-fold lower compared to the same period last year, Telekom Slovenije added.
After the consolidation of the group’s Macedonian companies - Internet services provider (ISP) On.net and wireless unit Cosmofon, is complete, their significance will increase substantially owing to a full offer of all kinds of electronic communications. The market share of On.net, Macedonia's second largest ISP, and Cosmofon, which are now joined under the trademark One, stands at 16% in broadband access, at 13% in fixed telephony and at 30% in mobile telephony, the statement added.
Telekom Slovenije shares, part of LJSE's blue-chip SBITOP index, closed down 1.34% at an average price of 138.69 euro on Friday.
($=0.6745 euro)