OTE Profit Up 62 Percent On Armenia Sale, Still Below Expectations

OTE PROFIT UP 62 PERCENT ON ARMENIA SALE, STILL BELOW EXPECTATIONS

AP Worldstream
Published: Mar 22, 2007

Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA on Thursday said
fourth-quarter net profit rose 62 percent following the sale of its
Armenian unit _ a figure sharply below analyst forecasts.

For the three months to the end of December, OTE, Greece’s dominant
telecommunications provider, said net profit rose to A129.1 million
($172.8 million) from A79.7 million ($106.7 million) the previous year.

The previous year’s result was hit by a one-time A939.6 million
($1.26 billion) charge for a voluntary retirement scheme taken in 2005.

Revenue rose 13.6 percent to A1.59 billion ($2.13 billion) from A1.40
billion ($1.87 billion) in the same period a year earlier.

In early November, Russia’s OAO Vimpel Communications acquired OTE’s
90 percent-controlled Armenian subsidiary for A341.9 million ($457.8
million) in cash and A40 million ($53.6 million) in debt, which netted
the company A160.2 million ($214.5 million) in capital gains.

OTE has been undertaking a major restructuring, shedding a third of
its formerly 15,000-person work force in a move the company says will
slash costs in the years ahead.

The government, which owns a 38.7% stake in OTE, hopes to sell up to
a 20 percent share to a strategic investor. But since mid-February,
OTE shares have underperformed the Athens stock market amid worries
that no strategic investor will be found for the company.

On Wednesday, OTE shares closed down A0.14 ($0.19), or 0.7 percent,
at A20.5 ($27.4), valuing the company at A10.0 billion ($13.4 billion).

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress