Swisscom 1st Half Net Income at CHF840 Million

ZURICH -(Dow Jones)- Swisscom AG Wednesday said that thanks largely to the acquisition of the Italian company Fastweb in spring 2007, Swisscom posted a 17.6% increase in revenue to CHF 5,991 million and an 18.9% increase in operating income (EBITDA) to CHF 2,427 million for the first half of 2008.

Despite a fiercely competitive market and massive price reductions, Swisscom reported stable revenue and operating income (EBITDA) in its Swiss operations. The early termination of around 75% of the long-term leasing agreements which is already underway reduced net income by CHF99 million to CHF840 million.

However, operating free cash flow available to Swisscom shareholders saw an increase of 39.0% to CHF 1,359 million in the first half of 2008. For the 2008 financial year, Swisscom expects to post net revenue of around CHF 12.3 billion and operating income (EBITDA) of around CHF 4.8 billion, while capital expenditure will be in the range of CHF 2.1 billion to CHF 2.2 billion. Swisscom is also confident that operating free cash flow as a basis for payouts to shareholders will be at the upper end of the CHF 2.4 to CHF2.5 billion originally communicated.

-Zurich Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +41 43 443 8040; zurichdjnews@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

Posted to the site on 13th August 2008