CAIRO: Telecom Egypt said on Monday growing subscriber numbers, strong internet penetration and stable revenues per user had led to a 44 percent jump in first-quarter net profits. The firm, Egypt s only fixed-line operator, reported net profits of LE 536 million ($93 million), up from LE373 million last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were LE 1.23 billion, an increase of 3 percent. These are very impressive results, Sarah Tolba of Delta Securities said. Another trader also pointed to a strong performance from Vodafone Egypt, one of Egypt s only two mobile network operators, in which Telecom Egypt owns a 25.5 percent stake. It s better than the market expected ... They ve increased subscriber numbers and Vodafone Egypt is doing very well, Bassim Arida of CIBC brokerage said. In February, Telecom Egypt (TE) said it was in talks to sell its stake in preparation for bidding for Egypt s third mobile license, for which the deadline has passed but no winner announced. Earlier this month, company officials said TE would submit a joint bid for the license with Telecom Italia. While our investment in Vodafone Egypt has again delivered a strong financial result for our company, we have recently announced our intention to bid for the third mobile license in Egypt, TE Chairman Akil Beshir said. We have formed what we view as, a very strong consortium with Telecom Italia, he added. The firm said its average revenue per user (ARPU) was stable, but this was before the impact of recent tariff adjustments. The firm has said it would raise some prices by up to 25 percent to cut losses on its local calls business. The company said internet subscriber levels had risen over 200 percent in the first quarter of 2006 compared to last year. TE, which was 20 percent privatized last year but remains state controlled, is Egypt s only fixed-line operator. In March, Egypt said it would not begin studies on a second fixed-line operator until mid-2008. Reuters
