Cellcom Israel Announces Second Quarter 2009 Results and Strengthens its Position as the Market Leader
NETANYA, Israel, --
- 15.0%(1) Increase in Net Income With an Increase in Operating Income
and EBITDA;
- Profitability Growth, Despite the Ongoing Economic Slowdown, Price
Erosions and Growing Competition;
- EBITDA(2) Up by 2.9%(3); EBITDA Margin of 39.6%
- Cellcom Israel Declares a Second Quarter Dividend of NIS 3.05
per Share (Totals Approx. NIS 300 Million)
Second Quarter 2009 Highlights (compared to the second quarter
2008(4)):
- Total Revenues from services increased 0.7% to NIS 1,420
million ($362 million)
- Revenues from content and value added services (including
SMS) increased 30.6%, represent 14.7% of services revenues
- Total Revenues totaled NIS 1,608 million ($410 million), a
0.5% increase
- EBITDA increased 2.9%(3) to NIS 637 million ($163 million);
EBITDA margin 39.6%
- Operating income increased 6.5%(5) to NIS 444 million ($113
million)
- Net income increased 15.0%(1) to NIS 277 million ($71 million)
- Free Cash Flow(2) increased 33.3% to NIS 400 million ($102
million)
- Subscriber base increased approx. 20,000 during the quarter,
mostly post-paid subscribers; reaching approx. 3.228 million at the
end of June 2009
- 3G subscribers reached approx. 877,000 at the end of June
2009, net addition of approx. 44,000 in the second quarter 2009
- The Company declared second quarter dividend of NIS 3.05 per
share
Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE: CEL, TASE: CEL) ("Cellcom Israel", the "Company"), announced today its financial results for the second quarter of 2009. Revenues for the second quarter 2009 totaled NIS 1,608 million ($410 million); EBITDA for the second quarter 2009 totaled NIS 637 million ($163 million), or 39.6% of revenues; and net income for the second quarter 2009 reached NIS 277 million ($71 million). Basic earnings per share for the second quarter 2009 reached NIS 2.82 ($0.72).
Commenting on the results, Amos Shapira, Chief Executive Officer said, "This quarter Cellcom Israel, Israel's largest and leading cellular operator, further strengthened its standing in the market, continuing to present growth in revenues, operating and net profit and cash flow, as well as steadily increasing and improving its subscriber base. These results are especially noteworthy as we are operating in a challenging competitive environment, highly regulated and turbulent macro-economic environment. This macro-economic environment mainly affected our roaming revenues, as inbound and outbound tourism continued to be impacted by the global economic slowdown. This effect of the decrease in roaming revenues was entirely offset by the rapidly growing demand for content and value added services, which increased by over 30% this quarter, as well as land line services in which we continue to present a significant growth almost without adding to the Company's costs due to the existing synergy to our core business. Moreover, our ongoing efficiency measures this quarter enabled us to further reduce operating expenses, as well as operating expense as a percent of revenues, enabling us to present growth in both operating and net income and cash flow.
This quarter we continued to execute on our strategy of focusing on our core competencies, mobile communications, addressing the growing needs of the always on, anywhere consumer; the consumer that is constantly seeking entertainment and information content, known as Infotainment. We continued with our policy to offer our subscribers a variety of handsets to fulfill their changing needs, while keeping a prudent purchase policy. In this framework, we have launched, in a primary launch in Israel, the "Android" by Samsung with Google's operating system and in the near future we will launch the iPhone by Apple. ".
Shapira added, commenting on the change in Chief Financial Officers: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tal Raz for his tremendous dedication and contribution to Cellcom Israel. Tal has been instrumental in bringing the Company to where it stands today, taking advantage of financial opportunities to restructure our debt in an optimal and most successful manner. Tal leaves us to take on the role of CEO of Clal Finance, another company in the IDB Group, and I wish him the best of success. I would like to also take the opportunity to welcome Yaacov Heen to the position of CFO. Yaacov, a highly experienced manager has grown through the Cellcom Israel ranks in the past 12 years, and is highly attuned and knowledgeable of the company. I wish Yaacov the best of success and believe you will have the opportunity to meet him in person in the near future."
Tal Raz, Chief Financial Officer, commented: "These strong quarterly results were achieved mainly due to the increased revenues from content and value added services as well as fixed line revenues, which totally offset the 3.1% erosion in ARPU we witnessed this quarter, compared to last year, which resulted mainly from lower roaming revenues. Moreover, our very tight rein on expenses further contributed to profitability as marketing, sales, general and administrative expenses, as a percent of revenues, decreased from 21.9% in second quarter last year to 21.3% in second quarter this year. In terms of cash generation, we continued to generate a very healthy Free Cash Flow, increasing 33% from last year to NIS 400 million, enabling us to once again distribute a dividend totaling approximately NIS 300 million, representing 108% of net income, to our shareholders."
Click to read full press release
- 15.0%(1) Increase in Net Income With an Increase in Operating Income
and EBITDA;
- Profitability Growth, Despite the Ongoing Economic Slowdown, Price
Erosions and Growing Competition;
- EBITDA(2) Up by 2.9%(3); EBITDA Margin of 39.6%
- Cellcom Israel Declares a Second Quarter Dividend of NIS 3.05
per Share (Totals Approx. NIS 300 Million)
Second Quarter 2009 Highlights (compared to the second quarter
2008(4)):
- Total Revenues from services increased 0.7% to NIS 1,420
million ($362 million)
- Revenues from content and value added services (including
SMS) increased 30.6%, represent 14.7% of services revenues
- Total Revenues totaled NIS 1,608 million ($410 million), a
0.5% increase
- EBITDA increased 2.9%(3) to NIS 637 million ($163 million);
EBITDA margin 39.6%
- Operating income increased 6.5%(5) to NIS 444 million ($113
million)
- Net income increased 15.0%(1) to NIS 277 million ($71 million)
- Free Cash Flow(2) increased 33.3% to NIS 400 million ($102
million)
- Subscriber base increased approx. 20,000 during the quarter,
mostly post-paid subscribers; reaching approx. 3.228 million at the
end of June 2009
- 3G subscribers reached approx. 877,000 at the end of June
2009, net addition of approx. 44,000 in the second quarter 2009
- The Company declared second quarter dividend of NIS 3.05 per
share
Cellcom Israel Ltd. (NYSE: CEL, TASE: CEL) ("Cellcom Israel", the "Company"), announced today its financial results for the second quarter of 2009. Revenues for the second quarter 2009 totaled NIS 1,608 million ($410 million); EBITDA for the second quarter 2009 totaled NIS 637 million ($163 million), or 39.6% of revenues; and net income for the second quarter 2009 reached NIS 277 million ($71 million). Basic earnings per share for the second quarter 2009 reached NIS 2.82 ($0.72).
Commenting on the results, Amos Shapira, Chief Executive Officer said, "This quarter Cellcom Israel, Israel's largest and leading cellular operator, further strengthened its standing in the market, continuing to present growth in revenues, operating and net profit and cash flow, as well as steadily increasing and improving its subscriber base. These results are especially noteworthy as we are operating in a challenging competitive environment, highly regulated and turbulent macro-economic environment. This macro-economic environment mainly affected our roaming revenues, as inbound and outbound tourism continued to be impacted by the global economic slowdown. This effect of the decrease in roaming revenues was entirely offset by the rapidly growing demand for content and value added services, which increased by over 30% this quarter, as well as land line services in which we continue to present a significant growth almost without adding to the Company's costs due to the existing synergy to our core business. Moreover, our ongoing efficiency measures this quarter enabled us to further reduce operating expenses, as well as operating expense as a percent of revenues, enabling us to present growth in both operating and net income and cash flow.
This quarter we continued to execute on our strategy of focusing on our core competencies, mobile communications, addressing the growing needs of the always on, anywhere consumer; the consumer that is constantly seeking entertainment and information content, known as Infotainment. We continued with our policy to offer our subscribers a variety of handsets to fulfill their changing needs, while keeping a prudent purchase policy. In this framework, we have launched, in a primary launch in Israel, the "Android" by Samsung with Google's operating system and in the near future we will launch the iPhone by Apple. ".
Shapira added, commenting on the change in Chief Financial Officers: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Tal Raz for his tremendous dedication and contribution to Cellcom Israel. Tal has been instrumental in bringing the Company to where it stands today, taking advantage of financial opportunities to restructure our debt in an optimal and most successful manner. Tal leaves us to take on the role of CEO of Clal Finance, another company in the IDB Group, and I wish him the best of success. I would like to also take the opportunity to welcome Yaacov Heen to the position of CFO. Yaacov, a highly experienced manager has grown through the Cellcom Israel ranks in the past 12 years, and is highly attuned and knowledgeable of the company. I wish Yaacov the best of success and believe you will have the opportunity to meet him in person in the near future."
Tal Raz, Chief Financial Officer, commented: "These strong quarterly results were achieved mainly due to the increased revenues from content and value added services as well as fixed line revenues, which totally offset the 3.1% erosion in ARPU we witnessed this quarter, compared to last year, which resulted mainly from lower roaming revenues. Moreover, our very tight rein on expenses further contributed to profitability as marketing, sales, general and administrative expenses, as a percent of revenues, decreased from 21.9% in second quarter last year to 21.3% in second quarter this year. In terms of cash generation, we continued to generate a very healthy Free Cash Flow, increasing 33% from last year to NIS 400 million, enabling us to once again distribute a dividend totaling approximately NIS 300 million, representing 108% of net income, to our shareholders."
Click to read full press release
Posts
No comments: