Czech O2 net profit drops sharply in fourth quarter

11 Feb, 2015

PRAGUE: Telecoms company O2 Czech Republic reported a steeper than expected 50.5 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit, sinking due to pressure on fixed-line and mobile revenues and following a one-off gain in the same period the year before.

Net profit fell to 967 million crowns ($39.57 million) from 1.952 billion crowns, missing the average estimate in a Reuters poll that saw a 40 percent decline in the quarter.

The Czech group has seen falling revenue from its fixed-line and mobile businesses because of tougher competition in recent years but it had posted an 11 percent profit rise in the fourth quarter of 2013 when it booked one-off network sharing compensation.

O2 Czech Republic said full-year 2014 operating revenue declined 5.4 percent to 44.69 billion crowns, putting it in line with guidance of a smaller annual decline than the 6.5 percent fall in 2013.

The company, majority owned by Czech billionaire Petr Kellner's PPF investment group, said it expected mobile non-SMS data revenue and revenue in the Slovak market would stay growth drivers in 2015.

Copyright Reuters, 2015

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