NEW YORK and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, April 23, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tele2 AB ("Tele2", "the Group") (Nasdaq:TLTOA) (Nasdaq:TLTOB) (Stockholmsborsen:TEL2A) (Stockholmsborsen:TEL2B), the leading alternative pan-European telecommunications company, today announced its consolidated results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003.
-- 19% increase in revenues, by MSEK 1,380 to MSEK 8,616 compared to Q1
2002*
-- Q1 EBITDA increased by MSEK 681 to MSEK 1,480, compared to EBITDA of
MSEK 799 in Q1, 2002*
-- 7% EBITDA margin for Central and Southern Europe fixed operations,
with EBITDA of MSEK 273 compared to MSEK -169 in Q1 2002
-- Purchase of Alpha Telecom in the UK for net cash payment of MSEK 700
-- 910,000 increase in customers to 17.7 million
*excl. MSEK 150 Telia court settlement (note 1)
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, President and CEO of Tele2 AB stated:
"Tele2 continues to grow faster than its competitors with revenue growth of 19% in the quarter. In Q1 we achieved record cash flow from operating activities of MSEK 1,376 and increased pre-tax profits by more than MSEK 630 to MSEK 491, while adding an impressive 910,000 customers. It is our objective to maintain this balance between customer growth, profitability and cash flow generation.
"The fixed line operations in continental Europe are seeing strong growth, reaching over nine million customers in total, and delivering steady improvements in EBITDA. The 37% revenue growth in Southern Europe has been assisted by the introduction of local pre-select calling during 2002 and this is encouraging as local pre-select calling is due to be introduced in Germany in July 2003. With a fixed telephony and Internet customer intake of 356,000 in Central during Q1, the prospects for Central in 2003 are good. The EBITDA margins in our Swedish fixed line operations were maintained within our target range at 20% and Tele2's mobile businesses remain best in class. Our focus continues to be on low customer acquisition cost, churn management and operational cost control."
CONTACTS
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer Telephone: + 46 8 562 640 00 President and CEO, Tele2 AB Hakan Zadler Telephone: + 46 8 562 640 00 CFO, Tele2 AB Andrew Best/Dwayne Taylor Telephone: + 44 20 7321 5022/5038 Investor enquiries
Visit us at our homepage: http://www.Tele2.com
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