Hong Kong Hutchison Telecom 2005 Net Loss Widens To HK$768 Million

HONG KONG -(Dow Jones)- Hutchison Telecommunications International said Thursday its net loss widened to HK$768 million in 2005 from HK$30 million in 2004.

The result is worse than the average estimate of a HK$178 million net loss by seven analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Hutchison Telecom's revenue increased to HK$24.36 billion in 2005, from HK$14.85 billion in 2004.

Hutchison Telecom, a unit of tycoon Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa, generates most of its revenue from its mobile service operations in India, Israel, and Hong Kong.

The company's Indian operation, Hutchison Essar, is its largest revenue contributor. Hutchison Essar's subscribers increased 59% to 11.4 million last year. Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA, rose 47% to HK$3.23 billion in 2005.

Hutchison Telecom earlier this month simplified the shareholding structure of its Indian mobile arm to clear a regulatory hurdle for an initial public offering on the Mumbai stock exchange. The IPO is targeted for the end of this year.

Revenue from Hutchison Telecom's Israeli operation for the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2005 was HK$6.6 billion. It had 2.5 million customers at the end of February this year, with over 118,000 3G users.

Revenue from Hutchison Telecom's Hong Kong and Macau mobile business rose 3.3% in 2005 to HK$3.84 billion. Its EBITDA more than doubled to HK$769 million in 2005 from HK$362 million year earlier.

Hutchison Telecom's mobile subscribers worldwide now exceed 20 million, the company's statement said.

"We anticipate investing in the order of HK$13.5 billion to HK$14.5 billion in capital expenditure to expand our operations" in the coming year, the company said.

"Much of the investment will be in India where we have earmarked between HK$9 billion and HK$10 billion to double the size of the network," it said.

Listed in New York and Hong Kong, Hutchison Telecom has second-generation mobile phone operations in Hong Kong, India, Thailand, Israel, Macau, Sri Lanka, Ghana, and 3G operations in Israel and Hong Kong. It also has a fixed-line business in Hong Kong.

-By Ernest Kong, Dow Jones Newswires; 852-2802-7002; ernest.kong@dowjones.com

-Edited by Theresa Davidovitz and Sharon Buan

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 9th March 2006