NEW YORK and STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Tele2 AB ("Tele2", "the Group") (Nasdaq:TLTOA) (Nasdaq:TLTOB) (Stockholm:TEL2A) (Stockholm:TEL2B), the leading alternative pan-Europeantelecommunications company, today announced its consolidated results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2002.
-- Full-year EBT increased by MSEK 2,740 to MSEK 796
-- Full-year cash flow increased by MSEK 2,903 to MSEK 1,849 after
investments
-- 25% increase in full year revenues, by MSEK 6,197 to MSEK 31,282
-- Q4 EBITDA MSEK 1,549, an increase of MSEK 916 compared to Q4 2001
-- 6% EBITDA margin in Q4 for Central and Southern Europe fixed
operations, leading to positive EBITDA for the full year
-- 746,000 net customer intake for Q4, excluding one time adjustment in
Denmark(See Note A)
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, President and CEO of Tele2 AB stated: "In 2002 Tele2 grew faster than its competitors with organic revenue growth of 25%, but we also managed to achieve record cash flow of SEK 1.9bn and to increase pre-tax profits by more than SEK 2.7bn to MSEK 796. Maintaining this balance between customer growth, profitability and cash flow generation will remain a priority in 2003 and as a result of this we expect the board to propose a dividend for the fiscal year 2003.
"The fixed line operations in continental Europe continue to see excellent growth, reaching 8.5 million customers, and the Southern and Central market areas together reached EBITDA breakeven in 2002. The 58% revenue growth in Southern Europe has been driven by the introduction of local pre-select calling. This is encouraging, as local pre-select calling is due to be introduced in Germany in 2003, and this will boost revenue in Central without added cost. The EBITDA margins in our Swedish fixed line operations remain in our target range at 22%. Tele2's mobile businesses are best in class, with Swedish mobile EBITDA margins of 55%, and there were impressive additions of mobile customers, particularly in the Baltic States. Our focus continues to be on low customer acquisition cost, churn management and operational cost control."
Note A: See detailed information on page 3 under Nordic area
REPORT REVIEW
The financial and operating results for the period ended December 31, 2002 have not been subject to specific review by the Company's auditor.
Tele2 AB, formed in 1993, is the leading alternative pan-European telecommunications company offering fixed and mobile telephony, data network and Internet services under the brands Tele2, Tango and Comviq to 16.8 million people in 21 countries. Tele2 operates Datametrix, which specializes in systems integration, 3C Communications, providing integrated credit card processing, web payment solutions and public payphones; Transac, providing billing and transaction processing service; C(3), offering co-branded pre-paid calling cards and Optimal Telecom, the price-guaranteed residential router device. The Group offers cable television services under the Kabelvision brand name and together with MTG, owns the Internet portal Everyday.com. The Company is listed on the Stockholmsborsen, under TEL2A and TEL2B, and on the Nasdaq Stock Market under TLTOA and TLTOB.
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