Continued earnings growth for TDC

Continued earnings growth for TDC Despite the financial crisis, TDC increased its earnings for the first half year of 2009. Income before depreciation, amortization and special items (EBITDA) rose to DKK 6.3bn, up by 8.4%. Group revenue in the first half of 2009 was level with the first half of 2008, as shown in TDC’s interim Financial Statements presented today. The increased EBITDA stems primarily from lower costs in the Nordic Business and growth in Sunrise in Switzerland. “It was a challenging half year, but we pulled through satisfactorily. Thanks to an increased customer base and our focus on cost control, we recorded significantly improved earnings despite the financial crisis,” says Henrik Poulsen, TDC’s President and CEO: Adjusted for acquisitions and divestments, Nordic Business’s revenue declined by 1.9%, due mainly to lower revenue from traditional landline telephony and lower prices for mobile telephony driven partly by regulation changes. This development was counteracted to some extent by Sunrise’s revenue growth of 3.5% after adjustment for acquisitions and divestments. Overall, TDC’s customer base grew by 7.1% to 11.3m customers. The residential mobile customer bases grew in both the Swiss and Nordic businesses, and the domestic TV business is continuing to grow. YouSee’s acquisition of A+ and Sunrise’s acquisition of Tele2 also contributed to the growth. More than 100,000 customers have ordered TDC’s new HomeTrio and HomeDuo multi-play products. “I’m pleased that Sunrise is continuing its positive development, and I’m also delighted that our efforts to increase our customer base are on the right track. With the HomeTrio launch and our most recent mobile product, TDC to TDC, we have created strong products that our customers have given a warm welcome,” says Henrik Poulsen. Cash flow from operating activities grew by DKK 1.8bn or 55.1% compared with 1H 2008. Net interest-bearing debt totaled DKK 30.4bn at 30 June 2009 compared with DKK 42bn in 1H 2008. The outlook for 2009 for TDC’s revenue and net income from continuing operations, excluding special items, remains level with 2008. Read the entire release here. Key financial data DKK million 1H 2009 1H 2008 Change in % Revenue 17,839 17,919 (0.4) EBITDA 6,337 5,848 8.4 EBITDA margin in % 35.5 32.6 - Further information: TDC Press, tel. +45 70 20 35 10 tdc.com/press