News
Tele2 Group
Feb 10 2009, 7:00 AM CET
Full-year Report 2008
Stockholm - Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - Tele2 AB ("Tele2") (OMX Nordic Exchange: TEL2 A and TEL2 B), today announced its consolidated results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2008.
"After a number of successful divestments,
Tele2 is even meaner and leaner than before"
Tele2 is even meaner and leaner than before"
"Tele2 performed very well in 2008, despite tougher market conditions. We are happy to present year-on-year revenue growth of 7 percent and an EBITDA margin of 21 percent from continuing operations, well above 2007. After a number of successful divestments, Tele2 is even meaner and leaner than before. Given the current financial turmoil, I think that most people can agree that Tele2 closed those important deals at the right time. We now have a solid financial foundation to continue to build our success in 2009", comment Harri Koponen, President and CEO of Tele2.
Financial highlights
Net sales amounted to SEK 10,313 (9,599) million, an increase of 7 percent. EBITDA in Q4 2008 increased by 47 percent to SEK 2,173 (1,482) million. Net sales for FY 2008 amounted to SEK 39,505 (40,056) million, a decrease of 1 percent. EBITDA in FY 2008 increased by 30 percent to SEK 8,189 (6,309) million.
The Board of Directors proposes a total dividend for 2008 amounting to SEK 5
The Board of Tele2 AB has decided to recommend an increase of the ordinary dividend by 11 percent to SEK 3.50 (3.15) per share in respect of the financial year 2008. The Board has also decided to recommend a special dividend of SEK 1.50 per share.
Tele2 signed credit facility agreement of SEK 12 billion
Tele2 has entered into a 3-year revolving credit facility agreement of SEK 12 billion with a syndicate of 9 banks. The deal was successfully oversubscribed and has been closed.
Tele2 Russia passed 10.4 million customers
During 2008 Tele2 Russia made significant operational progress and the customer base amounted to 10.4 (8.6) million customers at year end.
The full-year report is available at www.tele2.com.
Conference call details
A conference call, with an interactive presentation, to discuss the results will be held at 10.00 (CET) / 09.00 (UK time) / 04.00 am (New York time), on February 10, 2009. The dial-in numbers are:
France: +33 (0)1 70 99 42 71 Germany: +49 (0)69 2222 2244
Sweden: +46 (0)8 5352 6440 The Netherlands: +31 (0)20 713 3422
UK: +44 (0)20 7138 0826 US: +1 212 444 0481
Please dial in 10 minutes prior to the start of the conference call to allow time for registration. The conference call will also be available as a link on the Tele2 corporate website www.tele2.com, both live and in an archived version.
Contacts
Harri Koponen, President and CEO
Telephone: +46 (0)8 5626 4000
Lars Nilsson, CFO
Telephone: +46 (0)8 5626 4000
Lars Torstensson, Investor Relations
Telephone: + 46 (0)8 5620 0042
TELE2 IS ONE OF EUROPE'S LEADING ALTERNATIVE TELECOM OPERATORS. Tele2's mission is to provide price leading and easy to use communication services. Tele2 always strives to offer the market's best prices. We have 24 million customers in 11 countries. Tele2 offers mobile services, fixed broadband and telephony, data network services, cable TV and content services. Ever since Jan Stenbeck founded the company in 1993, it has been a tough challenger to the former government monopolies and other established providers. Tele2 has been listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange since 1996. In 2008, we had net sales of SEK 39.5 billion and reported an operating profit (EBITDA) of SEK 8.2 billion.