Tele1 Europe Holding AB Announces Third Quarter, 2000 Results

Tele1 Europe Holding AB Announces Third Quarter, 2000 Results Tele1 Europe Reports 432% Revenue Growth, 302 Sites Connected to its Fiber Network and 2,144 Directly Connected Corporate Customers. Stockholm, Sweden - November 13, 2000 - Tele1 Europe Holding AB ("Tele1 Europe"), (Stockholm Stock Exchange: TEUR, NASDAQ: TEUR), the fast grow- ing, pan-Nordic competitive provider of broadband communications services, today reported third quarter financial and operating results. Commenting on the results, Ivar Strömberg, Tele1 Europe's Chief Executive Officer said: "Our progress during the third quarter demonstrates once again that we are on track and continuing to achieve rapid growth across the Nordic market. Revenues increased 432% over the same period in 1999, gross margin rose to 37% and EBITDA improved. During the quarter corporate customers increased by 1,553 to 12,383, and directly connected customers by 449 to 2,144. By the end of the quarter we had completed an additional 396km of local access fiber, for a total of 1,015 km and had 302 sites, or approxi- mately 147 corporate customers, connected to our fiber network. Finally, with approximately SEK 5 billion (USD 493 million) in cash and cash equivalents, we have sufficient reserves to fully fund our business plan." Financial Highlights: * Third quarter revenues rose to SEK 297 million (USD 31 million), an in- crease of 33% over second quarter revenues and 432% over the same quarter last year. * Gross margin was 37 % for the third quarter, an increase of 235 basis points over the second quarter. * Adjusted EBITDA, as a percentage of revenues, improved from - 35% to - 24%. * On net and hosting corporate revenue was 47% of year to date revenue and represented more than 50% of total revenue in third quarter. * Achieved strong revenue growth in data and Internet services, increasing to SEK 75 million (USD 8 million) or 25% of total revenue. * Switched minutes rose 29% to 608 million. * Fully funded business plan with almost SEK 5 billion (USD 493 million) in cash and cash equivalents. Operational Highlights: * Completed construction of an additional 396 km of local access fiber, for a total of 1,015 km. * Deployed or acquired 2,234 km of back-bone fiber, for a total of 4,001 km. * At the end of the quarter, 302 sites were connected to our fiber network or approximately 147 corporate customers in all four countries. * Increased the number of corporate customers by 1,553 to 12,383. Directly connected customers totalled 2,144, an increase of 449, and directly con- nected sites totalled 3,310, an increase of 883. * Successfully increased the number of sites connected through DSL by 302 to 1,732, or 1,273 customers. * Increased the number of dedicated hosting customers to 164. * Together with Western Wireless, Rix Telecom, 2G/3P and You Communication, applied for 3G mobile licenses in Sweden and Norway. * Signed a telecommunications contract with Svenska Handelsbanken, one of the four largest Swedish banks, to provide fixed telecommunications services for all of the bank's 461 offices and subsidiary companies in Sweden. * Signed an agreement with Enitel, a Norwegian energy company, to provide Tele1 Europe with fiber-optic capacity on their ring outside the Nordic region. * Signed an agreement to provide Helsinki Media's MikroBitti magazine a 100 Mbit/sec broadband service. * Signed an agreement with SEB, one of Sweden's largest banks, to deliver broadband IP/VPN services between the offices of Finnish subsidiary, Gyllenborg, and its offices in Stockholm. Acquisition Highlights: * Tele1 Europe's purchase of leading Norwegian broadband operator, EITele Rogaland, was effective as of July 1 and the company's operations were successfully consolidated during the third quarter. Consideration for the transaction consisted of 902,642 Tele1 Europe shares, and NOK 617 million (USD 66 million) in cash. * Acquired Stavanger based Explore IT, a Norwegian outsourcing company, to strengthen Tele1 Europe's position in value added services. Explore IT had approximately 20 customers and 700 000 SEK (USD 72 134) of revenue in the third quarter. The company provides managed server hosting, system inte- gration and IT consulting services. Corporate information Principal Executive Offices Tele1 Europe Holding AB Positionen 146 SE-115 74 Stockholm Sweden Visiting address: Hangovagen 25 Tel: +46 8 56 31 00 00 Fax: +46 8 56 31 01 01 Web Site: www.tele1europe.com Enquiries Ivar Strömberg, CEO Tel. +46 8 56 31 00 01 E-mail: ivar.stromberg@tele1europe.se Liia Nõu, CFO Tel. + 46 8 56 31 02 33 E-mail: liia.nou@tele1europe.se Cecilia Johansson, Investor Relations Manager Tel. + 46 8 56 31 02 19 E-mail: cecilia.johansson@tele1europe.se ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/11/13/20001113BIT00490/bit0001.doc The full report http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/11/13/20001113BIT00490/bit0002.pdf The full report