COMPTEL CORPORATION'S JULY-SEPTEMBER RESULT
ELISA CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE
OCTOBER 20, 2004 AT 9.00a.m.
COMPTEL CORPORATION'S JULY-SEPTEMBER RESULT
Elisa Corporation's subsidiary Comptel Corporation has today reported the
following result for the period of July-September 2004:
The turnover of Comptel Group developed according to the plans of the Group
during the third quarter of 2004. The order intake of the period was seasonally
low, which led to a decrease in the order backlog compared to the June-end
situation. There were also delays in certain major customer situations further
contributing to the decrease. The operating profit margin of the third quarter
was lower than during the first two quarters. The main reason behind this was
higher direct material and delivery costs in the projects.
Key figures (unaudited) 7-9 7-9 1-9 1-9 2003
2004 2003 2004 2003
Turnover, EUR million 13.3 12.0 41.8 40.8 54.0
Operating profit, EUR million 2.5 3.0 9.9 4.7 6.6
Operating profit as per cent of 19.1 24.8 23.7 11.4 12.2
turnover
Earnings per share, EUR 0.02 0.02 0.06 0.03 0.04
Key figures at the end of period 30.9.2 30.9.2 30.6.2 2003
004 003 004
Order backlog EUR million 17.3 23.1 24.4 23.5
Number of employees 413 417 418 402
The cash flow from operations in January - September was EUR 8.8 million (EUR 3.6
million) and in July - September EUR 1.4 million (EUR 3.1 million). The balance
sheet total on September 30, 2004 was EUR 51.7 million (EUR 45.3 million), of
which cash reserves amounted to EUR 29.9 million (EUR 21.2 million). The equity
ratio was 77.7 per cent (85.9 per cent). The Group had no interest-bearing debt
at the date of this interim report.
The share of Comptel's Product-Based Business of Group's turnover in January -
September was 86.8 per cent (78.4 per cent) and in July - September 88.8 per cent
(85.8 per cent) of Group's turnover. The share of Comptel's System Services
Business and hardware sales of Group's turnover in January - September was 13.2
per cent (21.6 per cent) and in July - September 11.2 per cent (14.2 per cent) of
Group's turnover.
Events after the review period
Comptel will change its organization in order to clarify the structure and thus
create better premises for growth. The planning and development resources of the
product areas will be combined into units with clearer management
responsibilities. The System Services Business Unit will be integrated into the
Customer Services Unit. The aim is to be able to better leverage the personnel
resources and competencies in the System Services Business Unit in offering
customer-specific services to major clients.
Comptel will make the new organization operational as of January 1, 2005. The
members of the Executive Board of Comptel Group will then be: Tero Laaksonen
(CEO), Pellervo Hämäläinen (Corporate Communications and IR), Jarkko Jylhä
(Research and Technology; deputy CEO), Markku Järvenpää (Provisioning), Pekka
Mäkipää (Account Management), Harri Palviainen (Customer Services), Markku
Penttinen (Convergent Mediation), Leena Suviranta (HR and Administration) and
Simo Sääskilahti (CFO).
Future outlook
Comptel estimates that the positive development of the demand for its products
will continue. The order backlog will grow during the fourth quarter. The
turnover growth in Product Business will exceed 10 percent in 2004.
The turnover of System Services Business will be lower than in 2003 partly due to
the accomplished divestment and discontinuation of the businesses of the
subsidiary company Probatus.
According to Comptel's estimate Group's turnover growth in 2004 will be from 5 to
10 per cent, while the operating profit will be over 20 per cent of the turnover.
Further information on Comptel Corporation's result and growth prospects are
available in the company's interim report for July 1 - Septeember 30, 2004,
disclosed today.
ELISA CORPORATION
Velipekka Nummikoski
Vice President, Corporate Communications
For further information, please contact:
Comptel Corporation
Mr Tero Laaksonen, President and CEO
Tel. +358 9 700 1131
Mr Pellervo Hämäläinen, Senior Vice President,
Corporate Communications and IR
Tel. +358 9 700 1131
Distribution:
Helsinki Exchanges
Major media
