Millicom Strrrrrrrrrrrrong !
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Hier die News und ein kleines Résumé:
Millicom International Cellular S.A. Announces Results for the Quarter and Nine Months Ended September 30, 2007
13:45 23.10.07
STOCKHOLM, Sweden & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
Millicom International Cellular S.A. (NASDAQ:MICC) (STO:MIC), the global
telecommunications company, today announces results for the quarter and
nine months ended September 30, 2007.
77% increase in revenues for Q3 to $686m (Q3 06: $388m)*
60% increase in EBITDA for Q3 to $296m (Q3 06: $186m)*
Subscriber increase for Q3 of 77%, bringing total subscribers to 20m*
Profit before taxes from continuing operations for Q3 of $169m (Q3 06:
$102m)*
Net profit for Q3 of $138m (Q3 06: $52m)
Basic earnings per common share for Q3 of $1.36 (Q3 06: $0.52)
80% increase in revenues for the nine months to Sep 07 to $1,862m (YTD
06: $1,032m)*
65% increase in EBITDA for the nine months to Sep 07 to $807m (YTD 06:
$488m)*
Profit before taxes from continuing operations for the nine months to
Sep 07 of $432m (YTD 06: $253m)*
Net profit for the nine months to Sep 07 of $584m (YTD 06: $119m)**
Basic earnings per common share for the nine months to Sep 07 of $5.79
(YTD 06: $1.19)**
* Excludes discontinued operations ** Includes gain on sale of Paktel
Limited of $258 million
Chief Executive Officers Review Marc Beuls,
Chief Executive Officer, comments: Millicom
continues to deliver excellent growth with a 77% increase in revenues
year on year on the back of an acceleration of capex during the quarter
to $347 million. This higher level of investment is reflected in the
addition of 2 million customers during the quarter bringing the total to
20 million. Millicom is today increasing its capex forecast for the full
year 2007 from $800m to over $1 billion as we continue to invest in
future growth. We are expecting a similar level of capex for 2008.
The most encouraging aspect of these results
has been in Africa where we have taken the opportunity to increase the
pace of our build-out through a substantial increase in capex. This
steadily increasing level of investment is driving the rate of
subscriber acquisition in Africa which was up 44% year on year, up an
impressive 17% quarter on quarter and delivering year on year revenue
growth for the quarter of 52%. In order to exploit the growth
opportunity in our African markets we have accepted a somewhat lower
margin of 28% in the third quarter, but we still believe that margins
will move back to historical levels whilst we continue to invest as we
build critical scale. In our two newest African markets, Chad and DRC,
revenues were up by 117% and 150% respectively and, encouragingly, in
our two largest African markets, Ghana and Tanzania, year on year
revenue growth in Q3 of 43% and 51% respectively, showed the positive
impact of the price cuts in Q2. Also in Senegal, growth in revenues of
38% demonstrated that the one-off issues from Q2 are behind us. We
continue to be excited by the prospects in Africa but reiterate our view
that the lack of infrastructure will continue to be a challenge and this
will mean higher levels of operating expenditure than in our other
markets for the time being.
In Central America subscribers grew by 74%
year on year showing the continued momentum in these three markets with
revenues and EBITDA increasing by 45% following the move to per-second
billing in the first quarter. ARPU in Central America was stable at $20
which is above the Latin American average ARPU of $17, as reported by
Research and Markets. tigo has higher than average ARPU for a number of
reasons but most importantly it is because we have a high proportion of
the best customers in our markets. It is for this reason that we will
start to roll out 3G services in 2008 to offer these high-end customers
mobile data services on our existing licenses and frequencies. In order
to make spectrum available for this 3G launch, we are churning off the
residue of our TDMA and CDMA customers in all three countries, and
expect to report no older technology subscribers by the end of the year
in this region. EBITDA margins increased slightly across Central America
to 54%, having been 53% in the previous quarter, reflecting the fact
that tigo has a strong market share in all three markets which gives us
a larger percentage of on-net calls and so helps to sustain our margins.
South Americas
high revenue growth of 245% for the third quarter has been driven by the
acquisition of our new Colombian business in 2006 but excluding
Colombia, the underlying revenue growth for the region was still 53%, a
very good performance. Both Paraguay and Bolivia have benefited from
per-second billing and a growing level of recurring revenue from
value-added services. In Colombia, tigo grew revenues by 12% quarter on
quarter as we concentrated on growing our market share with a focus on
building out our distribution networks. We were able to maintain our
EBITDA margin at 25% for this quarter even with the substantial
quarter-on-quarter revenue growth. tigo is gathering momentum in
Colombia with 211 thousand net adds in the quarter as it continues to
grow its market share. Official figures issued by the regulator show
that tigos subscribers grew by 11% quarter
on quarter whereas the market grew by 3%. Today tigo has a good network,
a competitive number of distribution outlets and the ability to offer
more competitive services going forward.
Our Asian cluster produced a solid
performance with revenues up by 30% and EBITDA up by 41% with margins of
43% which is the same as our current Group average. In particular, we
have seen the benefit of substantial investment in the network in Sri
Lanka with a 54% growth in revenues over the year.
Overall, we see opportunities in all our
markets to continue investing aggressively in order to increase our
market share and to exploit the general growth in the market as
penetration rates continue to rise across our markets. In Latin America
our markets are still growing strongly even though penetration rates
today are over 50% in four of our six markets. In certain markets in
South America other than our own, penetration rates are now approaching
90% and so the prospects for penetration growth in our markets remain
good. In Africa and Asia penetration is only just starting to move into
this exciting high growth phase.
We have improved our balance sheet structure
by buying US$45m of our 10% Senior Notes due on December 1, 2013 whilst
we continue to raise the debt at the operating company level. We took
advantage of the turbulence in the debt markets to buy the bonds at a
discount to the net present value of the price at which the bonds can be
called in December 2008.
Millicom has the opportunity to exploit its
current position as we are in sixteen exciting high growth markets
worldwide and we have the ability to fund this growth by way of our
strong cash flow. In addition, our low leverage enables us to look at
other exciting opportunities to generate shareholder value. We expect
2007 to be another record year for the Group.
Hätte man damals 5000 Stück gekauft ....
Ja, deshalb ist der Service bei Tango oder Tele2 solche Scheisse, die Millicom-Fuzzis saugen alles auf ...
... die Hotline kannste vergessen ... email funktioniert oft übers Wochenende nicht und die wichtigen mails schwirren dann im Nirvana rum und kommen nie an ... eine Antwort bekommt man natürlich auch nicht.
Ich hab Glück, dass ich bei 691 eine sehr wichtige Person kenne. Beim kleinsten Problem ruf ich dem auf sein Handy an und schwuppdiwupp ist das Problem bei mir behoben. Habe sozusagen eine persönliche Hotline.
Mit 621 hab ich mich aber schon länger verkracht. Deshalb (und weil ich eben dort besagte Person gut kenne) bin ich bei 691.
Halte die Ohren steif
Gruß
Casaubon
Ich danke -emerging markt trader- führ den tollen Tip.
MfG Jens
Habe gestern mal wieder 100 ins Depot gelegt.
Gestern ist MCC gut gelaufen, TROTZ schwachen US-Börsen. Wenn da die Post abgeht, sind locker 120 USD drin.
Frage mich, ob keine Divi oder ein Aktiensplit ansteht ...
... bedenke, 2002 stand das Teil bei 0.90 USD ... also ein 10.000 % tler.
Gruss und viel Glück !
Jens
Naja wie auch immer, meine Positionen sind z.Zt. Aleo Solar, Sun Microsystems, Allianz und natürlich auch noch Nanoventure. Meine größte Position Gold hab ich heute geschmissen und mal Gewinne mitgenommen. Also in Seaway bin ich nicht drin...
Mit freundl. Grüßen TraderonTour
Regulatory News:
Millicom International Cellular S.A. (News) (NASDAQ:MICC) (STO:MIC), the global telecommunications company, today announces that it has given notice to make an early repurchase of its US$200,000,000 4% Convertible Bonds due 2010, as is permitted under the agreement.
On January 21, 2008, pursuant to Section 7(b) of the terms and conditions of the 4% convertible bonds due 2010, Millicom will redeem the entire outstanding amount of the bonds at 100% of the principal amount plus accrued interest up to and excluding the redemption date. The aggregate principal amount of the bonds outstanding as of December 18, 2007 was US%199,000,000.
Bondholders will have until 5.00pm London time on January 11, 2008 to exercise their rights to convert the bonds into ordinary shares or Swedish Depository Receipts representing fully paid ordinary shares at a conversion price of US$34.86 per ordinary share. On December 18, 2007, the closing price of Millicom's ordinary shares on NASDAQ was US$107.13. The procedures for exercising conversion rights are set forth in the terms and conditions of the bonds. Marc Beuls, CEO of Millicom commented, "We are forcing redemption to reduce our corporate debt and, over time, we will increase debt within our operating companies which will increase balance sheet efficiency and have a positive impact on the consolidated tax position. Millicom will save some US$15.8m in interest costs by paying back this debt early."
Millicom International Cellular S.A. is a global telecommunications group with mobile operations in Asia, Latin America and Africa. It currently has mobile operations and licenses in 16 countries. The Group's mobile operations have a combined population under license of approximately 280 million people.
This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" with respect to Millicom's expectations and plans, strategy, management's objectives, future performance, costs, revenues, earnings and other trend information. It is important to note that Millicom's actual results in the future could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements depending on various important factors. Please refer to the documents that Millicom has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Millicom's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors.
All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Millicom on the date hereof. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Millicom International Cellular S.A., any Millicom International Cellular S.A. employees and representatives acting on Millicom's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. Millicom does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
Visit our web site at: www.millicom.com
-- Subscriber increase at end of Q4 of 56% versus Q4 06, bringing total subscribers to 23m*
-- 41% increase in revenues for Q4 to $768m (Q4 06: $544m) *
-- 34% increase in EBITDA for Q4 to $307m (Q4 06: $229m) *
-- Profit before tax for Q4 of $107m (Q4 06: $99m) *
-- Net Profit for Q4 of $113m (Q4 06: $50m, including discontinued operations)
-- Basic earnings per common share for Q4 of $1.11 (Q4 06: $0.50)
-- 67% increase in revenues for the full year to $2,631m (2006: $1,576m) *
-- 55% increase in EBITDA for the full year to $1,114m (2006: $717m) *
-- Profit before tax for the full year of $539m (2006: $354m) *
-- Net Profit for the full year, including discontinued operations, of $697m (2006: $169m)
-- Basic Earnings per common share of $6.90 for the year to Dec 2007 (2006: $1.68)
-- Special dividend of $2.40 per share recommended by the Board
* Excludes discontinued operations
Chief Executive Officer's Review
Marc Beuls, CEO of Millicom commented; "The strong growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2007 demonstrates the gathering momentum within the businesses, with Millicom reporting a record intake of 3.4m new subscribers in the seasonally strong fourth quarter. For the full year, there was a total of 8.4m subscribers added in 2007, up by 56% year on year. We saw the opportunity in 2007 to increase our rate of investment, as the markets in which we operate continue to grow at a fast pace. Total capex was over $1bn for the full year compared to $616m in 2006. We expect to maintain this high level of capex with investment targeted in excess of $1bn in 2008.
"The strongest cluster in terms of subscriber acquisition was Central America which was up 71% in the year with 1.4m new subscribers added in Q4, which was a quarterly record for a cluster. The African cluster was not far behind with subscriber growth of 66% during 2007 and over one million new subscribers were added in Q4, the first time that this has happened. This is extremely encouraging for the future as the African markets have the lowest levels of penetration and so the greatest opportunity for growth. Our financial performance continues to be strong with revenues up by 67% year on year and EBITDA up by 55%. Excluding the Colombian acquisition, the respective increases in revenue and EBITDA were 47% and 45% for the year. There was impressive revenue growth of 57% in South America excluding Colombia, 53% in Africa, 44% in Central America and 33% in Asia.
"The African results are particularly exciting as strong growth was experienced across all the major markets. Today we have over 2m customers in Ghana and saw a 34% sequential growth in subscribers from the third to the fourth quarter. We have over 1m customers in both Tanzania and Senegal and saw sequential growth during the fourth quarter of 20% and 13% respectively in these two markets. In all three operations, Tigo benefited from several affordability initiatives made earlier in the year. Our investments to improve the availability, reliability and reach of the networks in these countries are now enabling us to attract the higher quality customers in these markets which should help drive future growth. The newer African markets are also now gaining traction: Congo DRC grew by 38% from the third to the fouth quarter to 547k subscribers and the smaller market of Chad grew by 14% sequentially to 323k subscribers. Sadly, we were asked to shut down our network by the government in Chad on January 31, 2008 because of a rebel attack on the capital city, N'Djamena. Our people are safe and the network is undamaged. The situation has improved considerably and our people are in the process of returning to our offices. We will be resuming operations imminently. Although revenue in Africa grew by 53% during the full year 2007, the very strong intake of subscribers and the development of the new businesses in Chad and DRC impacted the EBITDA margin, which was down to 31% for the year from 39% in 2006. We believe that we have seen a low in terms of EBITDA margins in Africa in Q3 and by Q4 there was a slight improvement. From a bigger base that will enable us to drive economies of scale, we expect to be able to continue gradually to improve the overall EBITDA margin in Africa despite continued aggressive expansion.
"The results from Central America continue to be strong and again reflect the high level of investment in 2007. Tigo continues to build or hold market share. EBITDA margins in Central America increased slightly to 53% for the year, but in Q4 margins were down slightly to 51% reflecting the record intake in Q4 and the related cost of handset subsidies which were needed to attract additional high value subscribers ahead of the launch of 3G services in 2008. In Honduras a new fourth licence was awarded during the quarter. Launches by the third and fourth operators are likely to accelerate penetration growth but also bring about a decline in our very high market share in Honduras, although we expect to maintain our strong number one position.
"In South America all three businesses continue to grow strongly with revenue growth of 152% year on year and, excluding Colombia, this region had an underlying growth rate of 57% in 2007. As has already been announced, the Colombian regulator cut interconnect rates from 12 UScents to 6 UScents on December 7, 2007. There has been a short term impact to revenues as Tigo has historically had more incoming than outgoing calls. Revenues and EBITDA in December were impacted by some $7m and $5m, respectively. We used this reduction in interconnect costs to reduce our outgoing tariffs, and at the same time, took the opportunity to reduce most other tariffs as well. Due to the price elasticity that we believe exists in this market, we expect to offset the impact of the interconnect change gradually as we progress throughout 2008. Long term, we believe that the cut in interconnect rates will be beneficial, especially for Tigo as the third operator. Tigo added 267k subscribers in Q4 in Colombia, an increase of 11%, and continues to see a steady growth in subscriber intake quarter on quarter. We are on track to reach our market share target of 20% in a few years.
"Asian revenues grew by 33% and EBITDA by 30% in 2007 with a 41% EBITDA margin. The EBITDA margin in Q4 was impacted by the settlement of a revenue share dispute in Cambodia relating to the international gateway, which had an adverse impact of $2.1m. The full year and Q4 EBITDA margins would have been 42% and 41% respectively, without this settlement cost. Sri Lanka continues to grow strongly with EBITDA margins in excess of 50%.
"During the year, Millicom repurchased $90m face value of the 10% Senior Notes as part of an on-going programme to improve balance sheet efficiency by retiring debt at the corporate level and replacing it with debt at the operating companies which helps to reduce the overall effective tax rate. We have the right to redeem the remaining Notes in December 2008 and have decided to exercise this option at that time. Due to the planned early redemption, we accrued the bulk of the 5% redemption premium in the fourth quarter, increasing interest expense by $31m.
"After the year end, Millicom forced the conversion of its $200m convertible bond, again removing corporate debt that will be replaced with local operating company debt. Millicom will save approximately $16m of interest at the corporate level over the next two years by redeeming this debt early.
"Due to the better than expected results of our Colombian operation during the year, and the anticipated strength of this operation going forward, we have been able to record a deferred tax asset in the fourth quarter for the net operating losses assumed as part of this acquisition and the losses incurred since the acquisition date. The total tax benefit recorded by Colombia Movil in the fourth quarter was $86m. This has resulted in an effective tax rate for the Group of 16% for the full year in 2007.
"As a result of the one time net cash flow benefit attributable to the Paktel sale, the Board of Directors is recommending a special dividend of $2.40 a share to be paid following ratification at the Annual General Meeting in May 2008. The Board will consider establishing a recurring dividend in future on the basis of the expected free cash flows, which is EBITDA less interest, taxes and Capex.
"Today Millicom has a very strong balance sheet which will enable the Company to continue to exploit its strong market position in sixteen of the best growth markets in the world. This financial strength with very low leverage enables us to look at a wide variety of options to generate shareholder value in an uncertain economic climate which may bring opportunities."
CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS
A conference call to discuss the results will be held at 14.00 UK / 15.00 CET / 09.00 EDT, on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. The dial-in numbers are: +44 (0)20 7806 1956, +46 (0)8 5352 6407 or +1 718 354 1388 and the passcode is 8417299. Please go to our website at www.millicom.com for a copy of the slides to be discussed during the call. A live audio stream of the conference call can also be accessed at www.millicom.com. Please dial in / log on 5 minutes prior to the start of the conference call to allow time for registration. A recording of the conference call will be available for 7 days after the conference call, commencing approximately 30 minutes after the live call has finished, on: +44 (0)20 7806 1970 / +46 (0)8 5876 9441 or +1 718 354 1112, access code: 8417299#.
Note: For tabular financial information and the full text of the statement, please refer to the attached PDF.
Millicom International Cellular S.A. (News) is a global telecommunications group with mobile telephony operations in Asia, Latin America and Africa. It currently has mobile operations and licenses in 16 countries. The Group's mobile operations have a combined population under license of approximately 287 million people.
This press release may contain certain "forward-looking statements" with respect to Millicom's expectations and plans, strategy, management's objectives, future performance, costs, revenues, earnings and other trend information. It is important to note that Millicom's actual results in the future could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements depending on various important factors. Please refer to the documents that Millicom has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Millicom's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors.
All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Millicom on the date hereof. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Millicom International Cellular S.A., any Millicom International Cellular S.A. employees or representatives acting on Millicom's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. Millicom does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
Visit our web site at http://www.millicom.com
http://wpy.waymaker.net/client/waymaker1/WOLReleaseFile.aspx? id=681743&fn=wkr0003.pdf
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This information was brought to you by Cision http://newsroom.cision.com
STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Millicom International Cellular S.A. (NASDAQ:MICC) (STO:MIC):
Q1 key figures
Subscriber increase for Q1 08 of 59% versus Q1 07, bringing total subscribers to 26 million*
42% increase in revenues for Q1 08 to $801 million (Q1 07: $563 million*)
36% increase in EBITDA for Q1 08 to $336 million (Q1 07: $248 million*)
44% increase in profit before tax for Q1 08 of $187 million (Q1 07: $129 million*)
78% increase in net profit for Q1 08 of $158 million (Q1 07: $89 million*)
Basic earnings per common share for Q1 08 of $1.48 (Q1 07: $0.88*)
* Excludes discontinued operations
Marc Beuls, CEO of Millicom, commented; Millicom recorded the second best quarter in its history in terms of net subscriber additions, adding 2.8 million in the quarter, following the exceptional final quarter of 2007. We are also particularly pleased with the first quarter year-on-year revenue growth of 42%, which is higher than the 41% growth in the previous quarter, and with the net profit of $158 million for the quarter, reflecting a very strong margin of 20%.
Given that Q1 has historically been the weakest quarter of the year, owing to the seasonality of our business, our results show that we have achieved real traction across our markets as a result of sustained and heavy investment in sales and marketing, distribution and our networks in the last few years. It is encouraging to see the EBITDA margin improve to 42% from 40% in the previous quarter given this high level of investment. In 2008 it is our intention to increase capex still further and we are forecasting capex in excess of one billion U.S. dollars for the year, which underlines our belief that we can continue to grow both our subscriber base and market share as the penetration rates rise across all our markets.
Millicom's strategy continues to be to build a mass market pre-paid business in all sixteen of its markets and it is important to understand, as we have often mentioned, that in order to drive penetration and subscriber growth we need to target customers with less disposable income. In Q1 we delivered higher than expected subscriber growth, a record for a first quarter, by aggressively targeting these customers. Firstly, the percentage of net new subscriber additions from Africa and Asia has risen from 39% in Q1 2007 to 45% in Q1 2008. Secondly, in Latin America as we continue to drive mobile voice penetration levels beyond the current levels, we need to increasingly target those customers with limited disposable incomes. Our low cost pre-paid business model is ideally suited to attracting a high volume of this mass market segment.
We will continue to improve affordability for our customers which will result in a gradual decline in ARPUs and will sustain our market leading rates of revenue growth. This will also help improve our EBITDA margin as we achieve economies of scale from higher volumes.
The prospects for the business continue to be excellent.
Note: For tabular financial information and the full text of the statement, please refer to the attached PDF. (http://wpy.waymaker.net/client/waymaker1/ WOLReleaseFile.aspx?id=753481&fn=wkr0003.pdf) (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
Kundenwachstum beschleunigt sich noch mal
Das Kundenwachstum in Asien beschleunigte sich sogar nochmals gegenüber dem Vorjahr, wobei das Unternehmen trotz sinkender Durchschnittsumsätze höhere Gewinnmargen ausweisen konnte. So kletterte die operative Gewinnmarge zuletzt von 40 auf 42 Prozent.
Nachdem man offenbar vor allem Kunden in schwächeren Einkommensschichten ansprechen konnte, fiel der Durchschnittsumsatz pro Kunde zuletzt auf 12,7 US-Dollar, nachdem man im Dezemberquartal noch im Schnitt 13,9 Dollar Umsatz pro Kunde melden konnte.
28.5 million*
37% increase in revenues for Q2 08 to $843 million (Q2 07: $613 million*)
34% increase in EBITDA for Q2 08 to $352 million (Q2 07: $263 million*)
29% increase in profit before tax for Q2 08 of $172 million (Q2 07: $134 million*)
33% increase in net profit for Q2 08 of $132 million (Q2 07: $99 million*)
Basic earnings per common share for Q2 08 of $1.22 (Q2 07: $0.98*)
* Excludes discontinued operations
H1 key figures
40% increase in revenues for H1 08 to $1,643 million (H1 07: $1,176 million*)
35% increase in EBITDA for H1 08 to $689 million (H1 07: $511 million*)
36% increase in profit before tax for H1 08 of $359 million (H1 07: $263 million*)
54% increase in net profit for H1 08 of $290 million (H1 07: $188 million*)
Basic earnings per common share for H1 08 of $2.70 (H1 07: $1.86*)
* Excludes discontinued operations
Marc Beuls, CEO of Millicom, commented; "Millicom has continued to grow strongly
with 58% growth in subscribers. Net subscriber additions in Q2 were 2.3 million
despite a one-off adjustment of 0.2 million to clean up non-revenue producing
subscribers in El Salvador. Revenue growth continues to be one of the best in the
industry with the second quarter year-on-year growth up by 37%. The net profit of
$132 million for the quarter, an increase of 33% year-on-year, reflected the
continued strong EBITDA margin of 42% for the business.
"The quarter two results give us confidence in our triple 'A' business model as it
has enabled us to continue to build our market share and profitability across our
markets. We invested $378 million in capex during the quarter and a total of $643
million in the first half year and, on the basis of the opportunity we see in our
markets today, we are raising our year-end 2008 guidance for capex to up to $1.5
billion. With this investment we believe we can continue to grow penetration in
both Africa and Asia and to enhance our offering in Latin America with the launch of
broadband services in the second half of the year.
"The global "credit crunch" and rising inflation worldwide has not to date impacted
our businesses in a significant way and we remain optimistic that, given the strong
demand for mobile telephony, which is an essential service in our sixteen markets,
we will continue to see good growth. However, higher inflation globally has
increased the cost of goods which leaves consumers with less disposable income.
"We remain committed to improving affordability for our customers and this will
continue to reduce overall ARPUs but the price elasticity that we continue to see in
all our businesses will sustain our market leading rates of revenue growth. Also
our continued high rate of subscriber acquisition will help improve our current 42%
EBITDA margin as we achieve further economies of scale from higher volumes."
Note: For tabular financial information and the full text of the statement, please
refer to the attached PDF or visit the Millicom website www.millicom.com.
Conference call details
A conference call to discuss the results will be held at 14.00 London / 15.00
Stockholm / 09.00 New York, on Tuesday, July 22, 2008. The dial-in numbers are: +44
(0)20 7959 6780, +46 (0)8 5051 3807 or +1 718 354 1281 and the pass code is
3827434#. Please go to our website at www.millicom.com for a copy of the slides to
be discussed during the call. A live audio stream of the conference call can also be
accessed at www.millicom.com. Please dial in / log on 5 minutes prior to the start
of the conference call to allow time for registration. A recording of the
conference call will be available for 7 days after the conference call, commencing
approximately 30 minutes after the live call has finished, on: +44 (0)20 7806 1970 /
+46 (0)8 5876 9441 or +1 718 354 1112, access code: 3827434#.
(Nasdaq Stock Market: MICC and Stockholmsbörsen: MIC), the global
telecommunications company, today announced that it has completed effective 1
October, 2008 the acquisition of 100% of Amnet Telecommunications Holding Limited
(Amnet) following the agreement initially announced on 22 July, 2008. Millicom has
purchased Amnet for an enterprise value of US$ 510 million.
Amnet is the leading provider of broadband and cable television services in Costa
Rica, Honduras and El Salvador, provides fixed telephony in El Salvador and
Honduras, and provides corporate data services in the above countries as well as
Guatemala and Nicaragua. In the 12 months ended December 2007, it recorded revenue
of US$ 143 million and EBITDA of US$ 56 million (adjusted EBITDA* of US$ 66.5
million) and at the half year to June, 2008 it recorded revenues of US$ 79.6 million
and adjusted EBITDA* of US$ 36.3 million from a total reported revenue generating
units (RGUs) of 496,000 corporate and residential customers as against 412,000 RGUs
at 30 June, 2007.
The acquisition of Amnet will allow Millicom to accelerate its broadband offering
across the Central American region which is today its most important region and
accounts for 43% of the group's worldwide revenue, 55% of EBITDA and 38% of
subscribers.
Millicom has received the requisite regulatory approval for the acquisition and has
recently received US$ 200 million in acquisition financing from two leading
commercial banks to fund part of the acquisition price. The acquisition financing is
for an initial term of 12 months after which it is intended to be refinanced by a
long-term bond or syndicated bank facility.
Marc Beuls, President and CEO of Millicom commented, "This transaction is an
important step for us to develop our broadband offer as well as adding what on a
standalone basis is a financially strong business. Amnet meets Millicom's strict
requirements for returns on all new investment by providing excellent growth
potential aligned with strong margins and good cashflow conversion. In Central
America we expect that the demand for broadband will be strong and independent
research suggests that broadband is likely to be the fastest growing market segment
so that we will be able to bring our marketing skills to work to increase broadband
penetration among Amnet's cable subscribers. The combination of Amnet and the recent
launch of 3G will allow us to play a major role in the development of broadband
across Central America".
53% increase in subscribers for Q3 08 versus Q3 07, bringing total subscribers to 30.6 million* 27% increase in revenues for Q3 08 to $869 million (Q3 07: $686 million*) 25% increase in EBITDA for Q3 08 to $369 million (Q3 07: $296 million*) 17% increase in net profit for Q3 08 of $161 million (Q3 07: $138 million*) Basic earnings per common share for Q3 08 of $1.49 (Q3 07: $1.36*) * Excludes discontinued operations
9M key figures
35% increase in revenues for 9M 08 to $2,512 million (9M 07: $1,862 million*) 31% increase in EBITDA for 9M 08 to $1,058 million (9M 07: $807 million*) 39% increase in net profit for 9M 08 of $451 million (9M 07: $326 million*) Basic earnings per common share for 9M 08 of $4.19 (9M 07: $3.23*) * Excludes discontinued operations
Marc Beuls, CEO of Millicom, commented: "Millicom's businesses performed well in a quarter in which there was a dramatic change in the global economy. We have maintained or increased our market share and produced good profitability by delivering strong EBITDA margins. Particularly pleasing were margin increases in Africa, at 33% and Colombia at 14%. However, recognizing the more difficult economic environment, we have already initiated a number of adjustments in many of the countries in which we operate.
We have decided to put off an early redemption of the $460 million 10% 2013 Notes, further strengthening the companys balance sheet by reducing short term and increasing long term debt and, as a result of this decision, the average maturity of our debt lies close to four years. At the end of September we had over $1 billion in cash and a net debt to EBITDA of 0.6 times.
Today we expect to invest less than $1.5 billion this year and we expect capex for 2009 to be substantially lower than for 2008, as we ensure that our requirements for high returns on new investment are maintained.
quelle: BUSINESS WIRE
# Mobile subscribers up 25% versus Q2 08, bringing total subscribers to 30.8 million
# Organic constant currency revenues up 11% versus Q2 08
# Reported revenues up 5% to $814 million (Q2 08: $774 million)
# EBITDA up 14% to $371 million (Q2 08: $326 million)
# EBITDA margin of 45.6% (+340 basis points versus Q2 08)
# Net profit* of $114 million (Q2 08: $132 million)
# Basic earnings per common share* of $1.05 (Q2 08: $1.22)
# Free cash flow of $59 million (Q2 08: $130 million outflow)