Telecom Egypt (TE) made profits worth EGP 6.7bn ($220 million) during H1 of 2023, on revenues of EGP 28.1bn, the company said.
Telecom Egypt grew revenues by 38% compared to the previous half-year results driven by an increase in the wholesale business units’ revenues which contributed 71% of the total growth.
Fixed-line subscribers and fixed-broadband internet customers grew by 5% and 8%, respectively, while the number of mobile subscribers increased to 12.6 million, allowing the company to achieve a growth rate of 7% compared to the same period last year.
Read: An inside look into Telecom Egypt’s operations and future plans
CAPEX for in-service assets amounted to EGP 4.5 bn, an increase of 55% compared to last year results for the same period. Cash capital expenditures amounted to EGP 11.2bn, after excluding the effect of licensing and frequency expenses, with a percentage of capital expenditures to sales up to 40%.
Net debt reached 1.4 times EBITDA on an annual basis, which is the same ratio fiscal year 2022 achieved, although the total debt ballooned by 43% in light of the revaluation of liabilities as a result of the exchange rate change.
Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and CEO of Telecom Egypt, said that the company was able to attract a new segment of customers in all its services.
He added that TE continued to reap more profits through the amended shareholder agreement with Vodafone, as the company received EGP 2.1bn in dividends in July 2023.
Nasr expected an improvement in free cash flows during the third and fourth quarters of 2023 in light of the aforementioned distributions. The continued strong performance and revenue collection of cable projects it achieved during this quarter supported this.
9.5 percent stake in Teelcom Egypt sold
In May this year, the Egyptian government sold a 9.5 percent stake, or 162.2 million shares, in state-controlled Telecom Egypt for $121.6 million.
At the time, it made it the second sale of state assets since Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly promised on April 29 to press ahead with the sales program.
He said Egypt would sell assets worth $2 billion by the end of June.
Egypt promised the IMF it would allow private companies a much greater role in the country. it did so under a $3 billion, 46-month financial support package signed in December 2022.
The government reduced its stake in Telecom Egypt to 70% from the previous 80%.
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