ALBAWABA - The Egyptian Telecommunications Company announced that it achieved a net profit of approximately 4.1 billion Egyptian pounds (over 132 million US dollars) in the first quarter of the current year 2023, according to a statement released by the company on the Egyptian Stock Exchange website.
The company stated that its net profits in the first quarter of 2023 jumped by 144 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Furthermore, it recorded a 48 percent growth in total revenues compared to the same period of the previous year.
The increase in profits reflects higher investment revenues, which offset the rise in depreciation, consumption, and financial expenses.
The company showed growth in its customer base across all provided services compared to the same period of the previous year. This included a 5 percent increase in fixed-line subscriptions, a 7 percent increase in high-speed internet subscriptions, and a 22 percent growth in mobile services subscriptions, reaching 12.4 million customers. Free cash flows amounted to around 0.6 billion Egyptian pounds, but excluding the impact of the last installment of new frequencies, free cash flows amounted to 2.6 billion Egyptian pounds before interest, taxes, depreciation, and consumption.
Regarding the debt results, the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio reached 1.2 times before interest, taxes, depreciation, and consumption on an annual basis, compared to 1.4 times for the year 2022. This is despite the total debt inflation of 34 percent compared to the previous quarter due to the reevaluation of liabilities in light of the exchange rate change for the Egyptian currency.
The Egyptian Telecommunications Company was among a group of state-owned Egyptian companies that offered their shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
The Egyptian government offered more than 162 million shares of its stake in the Egyptian Telecommunications Company for sale to financial institutions in the Egyptian Stock Exchange earlier in May, amounting to 3.747 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately 122.26 million US dollars). The total shares offered on the Egyptian Stock Exchange represent around 10 percent of the capital shares of the Egyptian Telecommunications Company and approximately 12.5 percent of the public treasury shares. The Egyptian Telecommunications Company is one of the largest government-owned companies listed on the stock exchange and it monopolizes landline internet services in Egypt while providing mobile services as well.
