BRUSSELS--Belgacom (BELG.BT) fourth-quarter net profit dropped
to EUR148 million from EUR168 million a year earlier as regulators
continued to push down prices and, therefore, margins, it said.
The majority state-owned telecoms company changed chief
executive earlier this year when Dominique Leroy, the first female
CEO in the Bel-20 blue chip index, took over.
MAIN FACTS:
- The lower year-on-year Ebitda is mainly the result of a fairly
stable decline in direct margin partially offset by lower costs
with capital gain excluded.
- The affect of regulatory measures has been lower since July
2013--reducing the 2013 fourth-quarter Ebitda by EUR5 million, or
1.3%--mainly a result of lower voice and data roaming prices.
- 2014 Forecasts: Core business. Revenue to decline by 1% to 2%.
Belgian Mobile market: Belgacom expects its consumer and business
segment to show significant improvement in mobile revenue versus a
decline seen in 2013.
- Ebitda: Belgacom Group expects to report a 2014 decline of
between 3% and 4% mainly thanks to revenue expectations
- Payment of a yearly dividend of EUR1.50 a share (interim
dividend of EUR0.50 and ordinary dividend of EUR1.00) for the next
three years provided Belgacom's financial performance is in line
with its expectations
- Belgacom reported net profit of EUR148 million for the fourth
quarter of 2013. Ebitda EUR397 million--down 8.3% on year.
- Full-year 2013 net profit EUR630 million for 2013.
- CEO comment: "We closed what was undoubtedly a challenging and
eventful year. We also saw encouraging trend changes in mobile
revenue with the negative year-on-year variance somewhat lessening
for both the consumer and enterprise units as certain mobile
disruption effects started to annualize. In my new role as
Belgacom's CEO I also see opportunities to make the company more
agile, cost-efficient and customer friendly and to reduce
complexity in general.
Write to Frances Robinson at frances.robinson@dowjones.com
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