Eurotel (to be 100% owned by Cesky Telecom by the end of 2003) reported its 9M figures yesterday, which were marginally above our expectations. Cesky Telecom reports its consolidated figures on October 30, at 1 p.m. CET.
USGAAP, CZK mil. 9M 2003 9M 2002 %change 9M 2003e
Sales 21,597 21,220 1.78% 21,249
EBITDA 11,134 10,786 3.23% 10,858
EBIT na 7,366 na 7,260
Pre-tax profit 7,585 7,338 3.37% 7,363
Net profit 5,533 5,076 9.00% 5,438
Cust.mil.e.o.p. 4.02 3.68 9.27% 4.03
As we commented yesterday, Eurotel operates in the highly saturated domestic mobile market (mobile-phone penetration could exceed 90% at the end of 2003; Eurotel has a 45% market share based on number of customers), where the focus shifts from customer acquisition to retention, and to tariff, opex and capex optimization. We believe that the increasing intensity of competition will be the major force influencing the sector in the future, negatively affecting operators’ revenues and margins. At present, Eurotel still offers a superior quality of services with somewhat premium prices, and excellent operating margins.
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