Telemar Posts US$516mn Profit, Up 48%"

Brazilian telecoms group Telemar posted profits of 1.11bn reais (US$516mn) for 2005, up 48% compared to 2004, the company said in its earnings statement.

Net revenues for the year were 16.7bn reais, up 5.7% on 2004, while Ebitda was 6.77bn reais, a 3.6% increase. The Ebitda margin was 40%, just as in 2004.

Gross fixed line revenues accounted for 88% of the 23.7bn-real total and were up 6% on 2004, driven by higher fixed monthly fees, data communications growth and slight domestic long distance growth. The fixed line client base is now 14.9 million.

Gross mobile revenues grew 30% compared to 2004, with traffic revenues almost doubled at 957mn reais compared to 592mn reais in 2004. The mobile unit Oi saw its Ebitda margin jump to 16% from 4% in 2004. Oi ended the year with 10.3 million clients, up from 6.7 million at year-end 2004. The unit now has a 26% market share in its operating region, up from 23.5% at year-end 2004.

Comparing service revenues against handset sales, the ratio was 77% service revenues versus 23% handset sales in 2005 compared to 72% and 28% in 2004.

Telemar ended 2005 with 800,000 ADSL clients compared to 496,000 the year before.

The group invested 2.40bn reais in 2005, up from 2.06bn reais in 2004, the increase relating mainly to expansion and improvements to the fixed line network.

BNamericas.com"

Posted to the site on 11th March 2006