- 11% growth rate of fixed telephone subscribers .. 19% increase in broadband and 29% increase in mobile subscribers.

Books: Nelly Adel

Telecom Egypt recently disclosed its financial results for the period ended 30 June 2019, in accordance with the consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with the Egyptian Accounting Standards.

Key indicators for the first half of 2019 included consolidated revenues of EGP 12.7 billion, a 25% growth over the same period last year, driven by an increase in data services revenue and an increase in sales of submarine cables, mainly PEACE cable revenues of USD 20 million.

The number of fixed-line subscribers increased by 11% compared to last year, and the number of fixed broadband customers increased by 19% and mobile subscribers by 29% over the same period last year.

The company recorded a cost of LE 1 billion in the value of the entitlements of nearly 2,000 employees in accordance with the early retirement program, which led to a decline in EBITDA of LE 2.6 billion compared to the same period last year, while net profit after taxes stabilized to achieve LE 2.1 billion.

After the neutralization of the impact of the application of the early pension program, EBITDA amounted to LE 3.6 billion, an increase of 11% over the same period of the previous year with a margin of 29%. The net profit after tax amounted to 2.9 billion pounds.

The increase in net profit after tax by 41% compared to the same period of the previous year was due to several factors, most notably the gains in currency differences, the growth in operating income and the recovery of investment income from Vodafone.

Capital expenditure accounted for 29% of the total revenue generated as a result of the launch of an intensive action plan to compress the time needed to implement the Infrastructure Efficiency Upgrading and Network Improvement Project for two years instead of four years for completion in 2020 Net debt also recorded EGP 10.2 billion, posting EBITDA of 1.6 times year on year compared to 2.1 times in 2018.

For his part, Eng. Adel Hamed, CEO and CEO of Telecom Egypt on the company's results for the second quarter of 2019, showed the outstanding financial and operational performance achieved by the company during this quarter, our ability to continue to implement our strategy successfully and maximize the return on investment by improving the level of services Provided to our customers, which is clearly reflected in the increase in data services revenue. Revenue from the PEACE cable agreement announced last April also contributed to a 24% increase in revenue growth over the same period last year.

He added that we are pleased to launch the WE SPACE internet system which is a shift in the Egyptian Internet market by offering a range of high speed packages starting from 30 Mbps instead of 5 Mbps, which maximizes the benefit of our investment in the development of our networks.

He continued to provide more services to our customers as the company laid the foundation stone for the provision of IPTV services across the republic as well as the launch of the application of electronic wallet via mobile WE Wallet, enabling the company to achieve leadership in the Egyptian telecommunications market as the first integrated operator of communications and information technology services .

In conjunction with strong revenue growth, the company has successfully implemented several cost-cutting initiatives, including debt restructuring, which has resulted in lower funding benefits, and we have also activated an early pension program that will bring financial savings in the short term.