STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 25, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tele2 AB ("Tele2", "the Group") (Stockholmsborsen:TEL2A) and (Stockholmsborsen:TEL2B), Europe's leading alternative telecom operator, today announced its consolidated results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2005.
-- Operating revenue increased by 12% to MSEK 11,579 (10,379)
-- Profit after tax amounted to MSEK 483 (678)
-- Earnings per share amounted to SEK 3.27 (4.50)
-- Some 300,000 customers have chosen Tele2's fixed subscription
fee in Sweden, associated with a one-off cost of less than MSEK
100 in Q1 2005
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, President and CEO of Tele2 AB commented:
"Tele2 showed good revenue growth in the first quarter, up 12% compared to last year and a solid performance in profitability and cash flow, taking into account the impact of wholesale line rental, UMTS-payments and integration costs in Austria, corresponding to a total of MSEK 185, as well as our new product offerings. The underlying profitability in Swedish Mobile telephony improved sequentially, largely as a result of successful product launches. We now offer ADSL services in nine countries, the Netherlands being the latest addition. Our ADSL strategy varies according to the prevailing regulatory and competitive environment in each country. With more than 600,000 customers we are already a significant ADSL provider in Europe. During the quarter we completed the integration of UTA in Austria and Tiscali in Denmark and we are in an excellent competitive position in both countries. Two areas that performed well were Central Europe, with a continued strong intake and a steady underlying financial performance, and Swedish mobile with an excellent intake, especially of postpaid customers, driven primarily by our innovative Comviq Knock-out offer. We continue to fight for an improved regulatory environment. In March we published our third 'Monopoly Challenger' report in which we set out the issues that both the EU and the respective regulatory authorities need to address to bring about a more competitive telecoms landscape. In April we made important progress on two fronts in France. The first is a long awaited MVNO with Orange, in the form of an enhanced service provider agreement. The second is a letter of intent with Neuf Telecom, giving us access to the most comprehensive ULL network in France. In combination, these two agreements give us a more competitive product offering and excellent growth opportunities in France."
Visit us at our homepage: www.tele2.com
Tele2 is Europe's leading alternative telecom operator. Tele2 always strives to offer the market's best prices. With our unique values, we provide cheap and simple telecom for all Europeans every day. We have 28.7 million customers in 25 countries. We offer products and services in fixed and mobile telephony, Internet access, data networks, cable TV and content services. Our main competitors are the former government monopolies. Tele2 was founded in 1993 by Jan Stenbeck and has been listed on Stockholmsborsen since 1996. In 2004 we had operating revenue of SEK 43 billion and reported a profit (EBITDA) of SEK 6.6 billion.
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