Telecom Egypt profit rises to $464mn

PROFITS UP: Telecom Egypt said its consolidated net profit rose 4.4%.(Getty Images)

State-dominated Telecom Egypt (TE) said on Thursday 2007 consolidated net profit rose 4.4%, largely driven by growth in internet and data services and sales of services to other operators.

Full-year net profit rose to 2.534 billion Egyptian pounds ($464 million). Net profit in the fourth quarter was 831 million pounds, 18% up on the third quarter, the company said.

"The results are good and have exceeded market expectations," said Walaa Hazem, telecom analyst at HC Securities in Cairo.

Telecom Egypt is Egypt's sole fixed-lined phone operator but the government is offering a second fixed-line licence for auction in June.

TE says it is ready for the competition.

The government sold 10% of the company through an initial public offering (IPO) in 2005 at 14.80 pounds.

The shares closed on the Egyptian stock exchange on Wednesday at 22.51.

The firm said total consolidated revenue rose to 9.993 billion pounds in 2007, up 5.0% from the previous year.

The number of fixed-line subscribers rose 4 percent to 11.23 million by the end of December, it added.

Telecom Egypt's internet subsidiary, TE Data, has a market share of 52% and a subscriber base of more than 200,000.

Telecom Egypt also has a 44.7% stake in Vodafone Egypt and that stake contributed more than 1 bln pounds to TE's bottom line in 2007, the company said. (Reuters)

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