Elisa’s Financial Statements 2012

ELISA FINACIAL STATEMENTS RELEASE 6 FEBRUARY 2013 AT 8:30a.m

Fourth quarter 2012
- Revenue amounted to EUR 396 (401) million
- EBITDA was EUR 124 (133) million and EBIT EUR 74 (79) million
- Earnings per share decreased to EUR 0.32 (0.36)
- Cash flow after investments was EUR 34 (65) million
- Mobile ARPU was EUR 16.7 (17.3 in the third quarter)
- Churn was 19.3 (17.2 in the third quarter) per cent 
- The number of Elisa’s mobile subscriptions increased by 19,500 during the quarter.
- The number of fixed broadband subscriptions increased by 7,000 on the previous quarter
- Net debt/EBITDA was 1.7 (1.6) and gearing 98 (94) per cent

Year 2012
- Revenue increased to EUR 1,553 (1,530) million
- EBITDA was EUR 501 (506) million and EBIT EUR 299 (295) million
- Earnings per share was EUR 1.33 (1.29)
- Cash flow after investments was EUR 155 (207) million
- The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of EUR 1.30 per share

Key indicators

¹⁾ Excluding non-recurring write down of EUR 3m: Profit before tax Q4 EUR 67m and 2012 EUR 272m, Q4 EPS EUR 0.34 and 2012 EUR 1.35

.Financial position and cash flow

¹⁾ (interest-bearing debt – financial assets) / (4 previous quarters’ EBITDA exclusive of non-recurring items)

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting a dividend of EUR 1.30 per share. The Board of Directors decided also to propose to the General Meeting an authorisation to acquire maximum 5 million treasury shares, which corresponds to 3 per cent of the total shares.

  Additional information regarding the Key Performance Indicators is available on www.elisa.com/investors Elisa Quarterly Data.xls.
 

CEO Veli-Matti Mattila:

  “Growth in revenue and earnings in 2012

Elisa’s revenue and earnings grew in 2012. There was revenue growth from the mobile business and from the sales of terminal equipment and new services. The growth in revenue from new services was significant. Earnings were strengthened by consistent profitability improvements that were implemented in accordance with the strategy. The economic recession had a negative impact on the earnings development towards the end of the year in particular. The competitive situation was challenging in 2012, and campaigning increased during the fourth quarter. Nevertheless, Elisa was able to strengthen its market position and competitiveness.

Growth of the mobile subscription base continued, and the number of subscriptions increased by nearly 290,000 during the year. The number of fixed broadband subscriptions also continued to grow, by 19,000 subscriptions. During the last quarter of the year, mobile subscriptions increased by more than 19,500 and fixed broadband subscriptions by approximately 7,000.

Consumer Business revenue developed well with the growth of the mobile business and new services. The Elisa Viihde, Elisa Vahti, and Elisa Kirja services grew strongly. During the year, we introduced two new services to supplement our services business: Elisa Vahti Live and Elisa Lompakko. During the last quarter of the year, we introduced a new e-reading feature to our Elisa Kirja service: an audio picture book combining illustrations with voiceover narration.

Demand for ICT services strengthened among corporate customers with new services that improve productivity. Elisa’s visual communication solutions have been delivered to more than 100 countries. To support corporate IT solutions, Elisa introduced the Elisa eSali cloud service to the market. During the last quarter of the year, we also introduced a new pricing model for mobile roaming fees  in cooperation with Vodafone. It guarantees competitive and clear pricing for companies in Europe, Russia, China, and the United States.

In 2012, we continued to strengthen the capacity and speed of our 3G network. We added 4G speeds to the 3G network in over 200 municipalities. Our customers have found the 4G services to be excellent, and demand for them was strong during the year. Elisa is confirmed to be the Finnish operator with the most extensive roaming network, which enables seamless use of mobile phones around the world for consumer and corporate customers alike. We ranked number one within our industry in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Nordic climate index, which evaluates companies based on their emission reporting.

 Our consistent improvement in customer satisfaction and profitability continues. Elisa creates services that improve productivity and provide an enhanced user experience. Combined with our strong financial position, this creates a solid foundation for the future.”

Outlook for 2013

The macroeconomic environment in Finland is still expected to be weak in 2013, with several companies already announcing employee reductions. This weakness is expected to be more pronounced during the first half of the year. Competition in the Finnish telecommunications market also remains challenging.

Full year revenue excluding the pending PPO acquisition is estimated to be at the same level as in the previous year. Mobile communications, ICT and new online services are expected to increase revenue. Full year EBITDA, excluding non-recurring items and the pending PPO acquisition, is anticipated to be at the same level as in 2012. However, for the first half of 2013, EBITDA is expected to be slightly below the corresponding level of the previous year. Full year capital expenditure is expected to be maximum 12 per cent of revenue. Elisa’s financial position and liquidity are good.

Elisa's transformation into a provider of new exciting and relevant services to its customers continues. Long-term growth and profitability improvement will derive from mobile data market growth, as well as new online and ICT services. In addition, Elisa will continue to determinedly to employ its efficiency measures.

Profit distribution

In November, Elisa updated its distribution policy, according to which profit distribution is 80-100 per cent of the previous fiscal year’s net profit. In addition, any possible excess capital can be distributed to shareholders. When making the distribution proposal or decision, the Board of Directors will take into consideration the company´s financial position, future financial needs and financial targets. Profit distribution methods include dividend payment, capital repayment and purchase of treasury shares.

The Board of Directors proposes to the Annual General Meeting a dividend of EUR 1.30 per share. The dividend payment corresponds to 98 per cent of the financial period’s net profit.

Shareholders who are listed in the company’s register of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Finland Ltd on 28 March 2013 are entitled to funds distributed by the General Meeting. The Board of Directors proposes that the payment date be 9 April 2013. The profit for the period shall be added to retained earnings.

The Board of Directors decided also to propose to the General Meeting that the Board of Directors be authorised to acquire a maximum of 5 million treasury shares, which corresponds to 3 per cent of the total shares.

Disclosure procedure

Elisa is adopting the disclosure procedure enabled by the Standard 5.2b published by the Finnish Financial Supervision Authority. This is a summary of Elisa’s Financial Statements 2012 and the complete report is attached as a pdf-file to this release and is also available on our website at www.elisa.com/investors.

ELISA CORPORATION

Additional information:

Mr. Veli-Matti Mattila, CEO, tel. +358 10 262 2635
Mr. Jari Kinnunen, CFO, tel. +358 10 262 9510
Mr. Vesa Sahivirta, IR Director, tel. +358 10 262 3036

Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
Principal media
www.elisa.com