Albanian Telecom 8.5 Mln Euro H1 Gross Profit, Exceeds Target

TIRANA, Aug. 11 – Albania’s state-run fixed-line operator Albtelecom announced a 1.04 billion leks ($10.9 million/8.5 million euro) gross profit for the first half-year, 46.3% above forecast, due to netwok expansion and cost cuts, company figures showed on Friday.
Neither Albtelecom, nor Albania’s Telecommunication Ministry, which published the data, provided comparative figures for the year-ago period.The company’s expenditure in the six months through June totaled 4.7 billion leks, down 14.4% on the year and 18.6% below forecast. The company’s revenue was also lower than planned, by 11.5%.
Albtelecom installed 10,261 new fixed-lines in the first half of 2006, up 80% on the year and 26.7% above target. The telecom had 248,060 subscribers at the end of last year.First-half revenue from Internet services rose by 219% year-on-year, Albtelecom said earlier but gave no revenue figures.Albtelecom also said it received close to $30 million in debt arrears owed to the company by foreign operators for the 2002-2005 period. Albtelecom, which is to be privatized soon, targets a 15% rise in gross profit in the current year, to 2.43 billion leks.