Telecom Egypt (TE) has announced its full year results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2007. Driven by strong demand for domestic and international wholesale services, revenues increased 5% to EGP9.9 billion (USD1.8 billion), whilst EBITDA (before provisions) rose to EGP5.3 billion from EGP5.2 billion at the end of 2006. EBITDA in 2007 was affected by a one off impairment charge relating to TE’s investment in Algeria based Lacom with TE reporting ‘after provisions’ EBITDA down 2.1% to EGP5.2 billion. ‘after provisions’ EBITDA margin was 52.3%. Consolidated net profit for the year rose 4.4% to EGP2.5 billion. Operationally, in 2007 TE reported a 4% rise in fixed line subscribers to 11.23 million, whilst its ADSL subscriber base leapt 141% to 222,166.
Vodafone Egypt, in which TE holds a 44.66% stake, reported net profit of EGP2 billion in the nine months ended December 31 2007, on revenues of EGP7.7 billion.
In a separate but related story, news agency Reuters reports that TE is keen to acquire a telecoms operator in either the Middle East or eastern Europe, adding that the telco would prefer to acquire an existing company rather than roll out new infrastructure.