Pannon ends Q2’09 with 3.577 Mn mobile subscribers (Hungary)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: Pannon today announced financial results for its fiscal second quarter. The company continued investments in mobile broadband technologies, and partly compensated the decrease of handset related and voice retail revenue by higher mobile internet revenue.

Revenue in Q2 ’09 was HUF 1.7bn lower than in 2008 Q2 mainly due to the decrease of interconnect revenues as a result of termination fee cut from January 2009. Voice retail revenue slightly decreased because of lower average-minutes-per-user, while reduction of revenue was partly compensated with higher Mobile Internet related revenue.

All above reasons affected the blended ARPU development in local currency, that is 8% lower level compared to a year before. Handset related revenue also decreased due to the lower sales volume.

Nominal EBITDA before other items decreased by HUF 0.6bn compared to Q2 2008 due to increase of operating expenses. Total operating expenses on YTD level increased over annual inflation, mainly as the result of the HUF deterioration, therefore increasing various IT and network expenses denominated in foreign currency; and also due to higher losses on receivables. Total YTD EBIT is HUF 26bn, HUF 1.6bn lower than in Q2 2008.

Despite the current situation of world economics we have continued our investments in services and our own operation as well”, Anders Jensen, CEO of Pannon commented on the results. The investments in mobile broadband technologies and the new environmental-friendly office building represent our commitment to persistent development.”

Number of subscriptions decreased by 17,000 during the quarter reaching a closing balance of 3,577 thousand. Decrease was mainly generated in the prepaid segment. Closing market share by the end of Q2 2009 was 33.59% meaning 0.2pp increase compared to the previous quarter. Closing contracted share was 44.2% at Q2 2009.

Capital expenditure was HUF 3.6bn in Q2 ‘09 showing 30% decrease compared to Q2 2008. Pannon investments in 2009 Q2 were mainly around mobile broadband technologies (3G sites and transmission), and housing related. Housing type investments during the quarter was related to the new Pannon House, inhabited from June 2009.

About Pannon

Pannon is one of Hungary’s leading mobile operators. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Telenor Group of Norway, Pannon was established in 1994 and it soon developed a strong presence in Hungary. By the end of Q4 2008, Pannon had 3.731 million active subscriptions and a market share of 33.9%. Besides voice services, Pannon’s business is increasingly dominated by mobile Internet. In addition to its EDGE network available to 99% of Hungary’s population for e-mail and browsing, Pannon is continuously developing its 3G/HSDPA network offering the highest mobile data transfer rates. The 3G/HSPDA network is currently available in 419 towns and villages across Hungary. Pannon is a leader also in the Hungarian CR landscape: its corporate responsibility initiatives include the annual CR Day, Pannon P©ldak©p Foundation, support for public causes, as well as arts and sports sponsorship.
About Telenor Group

Telenor is one of Norway’s largest listed companies, with revenues of NOK 105 billion in 2007 (including Kyivstar). Telenor Group has more than 35 800 employees, with 25 600 outside Norway. Telenor Group is a leading company in Norway within telecommunications, data services and media distribution and has extensive international operations, especially within mobile communication. Telenor is listed on Oslo B¸rs. Read more about Telenor at www.telenor.com.