Bulgarian Operator Profit Surges

The Bulgarian network operator, Globul has reported revenue of BGN305.5 (US$200) million for the first six months of 2006, a 33% year-on-year growth. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the period January to June 2006 reached BGN113.3 (US$74.3) million, marking annual growth of 52.2%. Globul first half of 2006 net revenue stood at BGN29.7 (US$19.5) million, a massive hike from BGN12.4 (US$8.1) million for the same period of 2005.

Globul customer base reached 2,688,077 at the end of June 2006, a 39% year-on-year increase, leading to a market share of 39%. Post-paid subscribers marked a 35% year-on-year growth to 865,297, representing approximately a third of the total company clients.

Pre-paid subscribers number increased 41% year-on-year to 1,822,780 at the end of June 2006. Notably, in the second quarter of 2006, over 35% of the new additions were post-paid customers, the highest percentage in the company's history.

Globul owner, Cosmote group CEO, Evangelos Martigopoulos, commented: The first half of 2006 has been an exciting period, during which we have reaffirmed the soundness of our strategy. All our operators in S.E. Europe show steady improvements, with encouraging trends. Most importantly, during this period we have concluded the agreement for the acquisition of Germanos, an acquisition which will transform the outlook of our Group, providing the springboard for even faster growth through increasing revenues."

Posted to the site on 28th August 2006