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Budapest, February 28, 2013 00:00
Magyar Telekom (Reuters: MTEL.BU and Bloomberg: MTELEKOM HB), the leading Hungarian telecommunications service provider, today reported its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter of 2012, in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Christopher Mattheisen, Chairman and CEO commented:
“As a result of strong growth in our retail gas and electricity
revenues and significant expansion of other products including TV, mobile
internet and SI/IT services, we recorded positive revenue growth in 2012, ahead
of our expectations. The Christmas period, in particular, was characterized not
only by strong sales of TV subscriptions, but also television sets. These fit
well into our non-core strategy and help to support subscription growth. In the
mobile segment, we continued to see great focus on smartphones during 2012,
resulting in significant sales and penetration growth among our customer base.
Almost 90% of the handsets sold to post-paid customers in the fourth quarter
were smartphones, and approximately 80% smartphone buyers also subscribed to a
mobile internet package.
Our continued focus on cost-cutting, in particular during the second
half of the year, and the efficiency review of our real estate assets in
Macedonia helped to control our underlying EBITDA decline which at -4.4%
remained within the more optimistic part of the
targeted range. This performance was further supported by the gain realized on
the sale of our Pro-M subsidiary.
We have continued our internal efficiency programmes, made great
progress in the mobile base station modernisation project whilst also broadened
our 4G coverage to 99% of Budapest and 27% of Hungary by year-end. As a result
of these initiatives, our capex – excluding spectrum acquisitions – of HUF 92.4
billion was slightly ahead of our HUF 90 billion target for the year.
In the short-term, we expect market conditions to remain challenging
due to sustained pressures on disposable income levels and continued intense
competition, along with persistent negative impacts from recently introduced
fiscal measures. Whilst watchful cost management
and identifying new revenue sources will, in this context, remain among our key
priorities, we expect our overall profit margin to decline further in 2013. We
estimate that our revenues will decline by up to 3%, our reported EBITDA by
4-7% and our capex (excluding any spectrum acquisitions) by approximately
5%.”
This investor news contains forward-looking statements. Statements that
are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. These statements are based on
current plans, estimates and projections, and therefore should not have undue
reliance placed upon them. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any of them in
light of new information or future events.
Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We
caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to
differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Such
factors are described in, among other things, our annual financial statements
for the year ended December 31, 2011, available on our website at https://www.telekom.huwhich have been prepared in accordance
with International Financial
Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) as issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board (“IASB”) and adopted by the European Union.
In addition to figures prepared in accordance with IFRS, Magyar Telekom
also presents non-GAAP financial performance measures, including, among others,
EBITDA, EBITDA margin, underlying EBITDA, underlying EBITDA margin and net
debt. These non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to, but not as a
substitute for, the information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Non-GAAP
financial performance measures are not subject to IFRS or any other generally
accepted accounting principles. Other companies may define these terms in
different ways. For further information relevant to the interpretation of these
terms, please refer to the chapter “Reconciliation of pro forma figures”, which
is posted on Magyar Telekom’s Investor Relations webpage at
www.telekom.hu/investor_relations.