Ljubljana, 01 March (STA) - The group of incumbent telco Telekom
Slovenije returned to profit last year although its operating revenues
dropped by 2% to EUR 824.5m. The company on Thursday reported a net profit
of EUR 34m for 2011, after EUR 210m in loss the year before, while also
announcing the launch of television channel Siol TV.
The group saw EBITDA rise by 3% last year to EUR 255.6m with earnings
before interest and taxes (EBIT) at EUR 63.25m, which compares to EUR
178.5m in operating loss in 2010 due to substantial write-downs on
investments.
The figures follow from the unaudited annual report that
the majority state-owned company published on the website of the Ljubljana
Stock Exchange a day after it was reviewed by the supervisory
board.
$Fierce competition, regulation and relentless
macroeconomic conditions demonstrate that generating revenues and ensuring
the necessary profits has also in the electronic communications market
become increasingly difficult to achieve,$ the management
said.
The challenging situation is reflected in falling market shares
in Slovenia, also in divisions where subscriber numbers are up such
IP-television and IP-telephony, board member Marko Boštjančič told a
press conference in Ljubljana.
He said that the economic crisis was
making users more price-aware and that Telekom was doing its best to adapt
the services on offer to that trend.
Commenting on the performance of
subsidiaries in Slovenia and SE Europe, board member Zoran Janko pointed to
a marked improvement in the operating results of Kosovo subsidiary Ipko,
while Macedonia's One still generated high losses, but is to break even in
2013.
The group's business plan for 2012 with the projection by 2016
is focused on the search for new sources of revenue, and in the short-term,
mainly on cost cutting.
The effects of restructuring are already
reflected in the operating results for 2011, with a similar trend projected
for 2012 due to the changes planned.
For this year, Telekom Slovenije
plans EUR 55m in profit with EBITDA of up to EUR 280m, and capital
expenditures of EUR 120-135m. These were down to EUR 92m in 2011 from EUR
113.6m in 2010.
At the same time the group managed to reduce its
financial debt by 23% to EUR 388.6m and capital rose by 1% to EUR
815m.
According to a press release issued today, the group is
continuing with its transition from being a provider of mainly
infrastructure services to become a provider of the most demanding IT and
multimedia services. Part of these efforts is the project of a TV channel
Siol TV, which was endorsed by the supervisors on
Wednesday.
Telekom's comparative financial statements for 2010 were
adjusted following last year's acquisition of the mobile arm Mobitel so as
if the two companies have been operating together in the comparative
period.
In the second half of 2011 Telekom verified the fair value of
its investments in subsidiaries, establishing that the recoverable amount
of investments in some of the subsidiaries has fallen below their book
value.
The company carried out a downward adjustment of its financial
investments in the companies One and Primo Communications for the
difference between the book value and recoverable amount of the
investments, which amounts to EUR 6.5m.
Janko today also repeated
Telekom's position that it did not violate anti-trust legislation with the
monthly plan for students marketed by its mobile arm Mobitel as found by
the market regulator last month. The company plans to fight the charge
$with all means at its disposal$.
The official also said
that the court's decision to launch debt restructuring rather than
receivership at its rival T-2 would not affect Telekom's operations as the
claims had been factored in.
But he said the company expected the
court-mandated debt restructuring to force T-2 to meet its current
liabilities on time.