Mobistar profits beat forecasts

Belgium’s Mobistar beat analyst’s 3Q profits forecasts by over €2 billion, as smartphone sales made up for lower call revenues during the period.
 
Regulatory cuts to mobile termination rates and roaming tariffs resulted in profits falling from €67.1 million in 3Q09 to €60.4 million this quarter, though the figure for the nine months to end-September remained broadly level with 2009 at €192.8 million.
 
Analysts polled by Bloomberg predicted Mobistar would report 3Q revenues of €57.4 million.
 
The carrier said strong sales of smartphones and growing subscriber numbers helped maintain revenues in the first nine months. Customer numbers grew 5% to 4 million, turnover 7.5% to €1.2 billion, and service revenues 5.7% to €1.1 billion.
 
EBITDA of €418.2 million was flat on the first three quarters of 2009, while the quarterly figure of €136.6 million beat analyst’s forecasts of €130 million, Reuters said.
 
The results prompted the firm to confirm its full-year guidance, which predicts a 5% rise in turnover, and profits of between €225 million and €245 million.