Telecom Egypt Profits Up by 8%

­Telecom Egypt, the local landline operator that owns a 44.95% stake in Vodafone Egypt, has reported an 8% rise in first-half revenues to EGP 5.2 billion (US$942 million). Net profit after tax was EGP 1.75 billion (US$317 million) representing an increase of 41% on H1 2008 and translating to a net profit margin of 34%. The contribution of share of profits from Vodafone Egypt was EGP 632 million (US$114.6 million), up 3.3% on the year before.

 

Vodafone Egypt was reported as ending June 2009 with 20.37 million mobile subscribers - up from the 15.2 million a year ago. The subscriber base at the end of March 2009 was 18.91 million

 

Commenting on events in the first half of 2009, Akil Beshir, Chairman of Telecom Egypt, said: "Despite a challenging environment I am encouraged that our diversified business model continues to deliver stable revenue and bottom line growth as today's results show."

 

As of 30 June 2009, Telecom Egypt's total debt was EGP 1.64 billion, compared to EGP 4.1 billion with the comparative period last year.

 

At the same time, the company has also announced that its current CEO, Eng. Akil Beshir will resign with immediate effect, although he will retain a position on the board of directors. He is to be replaced by Mr. Tarek Tantawy, Telecom Egypt's current Vice President & Chief Financial Officer. He has been with Telecom Egypt since 2002.

 

Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Akil Beshir, Chairman of Telecom Egypt, said: "Since joining TE, Tarek has been a driving force in the formation of TE's corporate culture of transparency and openness and has been central to the execution of some of the company's biggest landmark transactions. He has consistently demonstrated strong leadership and a keen knowledge of the telecommunications landscape, both of which instill me with enormous confidence in his ability to drive TE forward."

 

The company said that several candidates for the role of Vice President & Chief Financial Officer are currently being reviewed and an announcement will be made as soon as possible.