Belgacom 4Q Net Profit EUR148 Million

BRUSSELS--Belgacom (BELG.BT) fourth-quarter net profit dropped to EUR148 million from EUR168 million a year earlier as regulators continued to push down prices and, therefore, margins, it said.

The majority state-owned telecoms company changed chief executive earlier this year when Dominique Leroy, the first female CEO in the Bel-20 blue chip index, took over.

MAIN FACTS:

- The lower year-on-year Ebitda is mainly the result of a fairly stable decline in direct margin partially offset by lower costs with capital gain excluded.

- The affect of regulatory measures has been lower since July 2013--reducing the 2013 fourth-quarter Ebitda by EUR5 million, or 1.3%--mainly a result of lower voice and data roaming prices.

- 2014 Forecasts: Core business. Revenue to decline by 1% to 2%. Belgian Mobile market: Belgacom expects its consumer and business segment to show significant improvement in mobile revenue versus a decline seen in 2013.

- Ebitda: Belgacom Group expects to report a 2014 decline of between 3% and 4% mainly thanks to revenue expectations

- Payment of a yearly dividend of EUR1.50 a share (interim dividend of EUR0.50 and ordinary dividend of EUR1.00) for the next three years provided Belgacom's financial performance is in line with its expectations

- Belgacom reported net profit of EUR148 million for the fourth quarter of 2013. Ebitda EUR397 million--down 8.3% on year.

- Full-year 2013 net profit EUR630 million for 2013.

- CEO comment: "We closed what was undoubtedly a challenging and eventful year. We also saw encouraging trend changes in mobile revenue with the negative year-on-year variance somewhat lessening for both the consumer and enterprise units as certain mobile disruption effects started to annualize. In my new role as Belgacom's CEO I also see opportunities to make the company more agile, cost-efficient and customer friendly and to reduce complexity in general.

Write to Frances Robinson at [e-mail]

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