MobiFon added 143,200 cellular subscribers, its best ever first quarter performance, compared to 63,400 net additions for the same period last year, reads a press release issued by the company.
Total cellular subscribers reached 1,315,000 compared to 765,500 at the end of the first quarter of 2000. MobiFon continues to be one of the leading Internet Service Providers in Romania and had 71,400 users to its XNET service at the end of the period.
Service revenues increased 20% to $78.0 million in the first quarter of 2001 from $65.0 million for the first quarter of last year, reflecting the company's strong subscriber growth. SG&A expenses declined to $19.0 million in the quarter from $20.0 million in the first quarter 2000, as a result of cost control measures implemented during 2000.
Operating income before depreciation and amortisation rose by 39.0% to $40.2 million in the first quarter, the highest level recorded by the company for a quarter, compared to $28.9 million in the corresponding 2000 period, the MobiFon release shows.
Operating income more than doubled to $23.1 million compared to $11.3 million for the first quarter last year. On a quarter to quarter basis, operating income before depreciation and amortisation increased 19% from $33.8 million at the end of the fourth quarter 2000 and operating income increased 23% from $18.7 million in the last quarter of 2000.
In its turn, mobile telephony operator Orange, division of France Telecom, registered a 59% increase in the number of subscribers in Q1 2001, reaching 33.2 million, including the number of MobilRom clients.
France Telecom is the main shareholder in MobilRom, which registered 1.301 million clients in Q1, compared with 1.222 million in late last year and 622,000 in Q1, 2000, according to a release of the French division. At the same time, Orange sales went up 33%, reaching 3.408bn euros. The markets where Oranges registered the highest penetration rate in Q1 are France (48.2%) and Great Britain (25.4%).
France Telecom's total revenues increased 36.5% in Q1, 2001, according to Mediafax. It sales during the first three months amounted to 10.043bn euros, while the number of its clients increased by six million.
The company's worldwide operations registered a 163% increase, accounting for one third of the total revenues of the French group. France Telecom in March estimated a 20% increase in revenues for the entire 2001. Its 2000 revenues amounted to 33.16bn euros.
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