IN JULY FIXED LINE OPERATIONS in CONTINENTAL EUROPE aRE eBITDA POSITIVE ON A REGIONAL LEVEL
New York and Stockholm - August 14 2002 - Tele2 AB ("Tele2", "the Group") (Nasdaq Stock Market: TLTOA and TLTOB and Stockholmsbörsen: TEL2A and TEL2B), the leading alternative pan-European telecommunications company, today announces a trading update for the month of July 2002.
- EBITDA for July 2002 MSEK 456 (July 2001, MSEK 268) up 74%
- MSEK 2,549. Revenue for July (2001, MSEK 2,074) up 23%
- Total Customers at July 31, 2002, 16.2 million
- Total EBITDA margin for July, 18%, for mobile in Sweden 55%, for fixed line and Internet in Sweden, 22%
Lars-Johan Jarnheimer, President and CEO of Tele2 AB stated:
"Once again we can proudly show a gradual improvement in the company's positive result. The significant development for July is that our fixed line operations in continental Europe are now EBITDA positive for the first time on a regional level."
Financial highlights
| SEK millions | July 2002 | July 2001 |
| Operating Revenue | 2,549 | 2,074 |
| EBITDA (i) | 456 | 268 |
(i) Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
MARKET AREAS (MSEK)
| OPERATING REVENUE | ||||||||
| | ||||||||
| 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2002 | 2001 | 2001 | 2001 | ||
| July | July | Q2 | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 | ||
| Nordic | 1,076 | 965 | 3,379 | 3,398 | 3,145 | 3,026 | 2,912 | |
| Eastern Europe & Russia | 200 | 102 | 588 | 494 | 389 | 284 | 272 | |
| Central Europe | 455 | 507 | 1,374 | 1,348 | 1,372 | 1,215 | 1,205 | |
| Southern Europe | 687 | 412 | 2,010 | 1,788 | 1,482 | 1,297 | 1,293 | |
| Luxembourg | 68 | 68 | 195 | 166 | 184 | 174 | 163 | |
| Branded products & services | 63 | 20 | 164 | 192 | 354 | 336 | 368 | |
| Total operating revenue | 2,549 | 2,074 | 7,710 | 7,386 | 6,926 | 6,332 | 6,213 | |
| EBITDA | ||||||||
| 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2002 | 2001 | 2001 | 2001 | ||
| July | July | Q2 | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 | ||
| Nordic | 393 | 351 | 1,204 | 1,098 | 1,079 | 1,076 | 833 | |
| Eastern Europe & Russia | 58 | 25 | 133 | 126 | 76 | 79 | 58 | |
| Central Europe | -8 | -38 | -51 | -27 | -77 | -119 | -133 | |
| Southern Europe | 11 | -71 | -72 | -181 | -329 | -295 | -310 | |
| Luxembourg | 9 | 9 | 32 | 23 | -37 | 33 | -1 | |
| Branded products & services | -7 | -8 | -39 | -90 | -79 | -53 | -100 | |
| Total EBITDA | 456 | 268 | 1,207 | 949 | 633 | 721 | 347 | |
| EBITDA margin | ||||||||
| Nordic | 37% | 36% | 36% | 32% | 34% | 36% | 29% | |
| Eastern Europe & Russia | 29% | 25% | 23% | 26% | 20% | 28% | 21% | |
| Central Europe | -2% | -7% | -4% | -2% | -6% | -10% | -11% | |
| Southern Europe | 2% | -17% | -4% | -10% | -22% | -23% | -24% | |
| Luxembourg | 13% | 13% | 16% | 14% | -20% | 19% | -1% | |
| Branded products & services | -11% | -40% | -24% | -47% | -22% | -16% | -27% | |
| Total EBITDA margin | 18% | 13% | 16% | 13% | 9% | 11% | 6% |
| NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS | ||||||||||
| Number of customers | Net intake | |||||||||
| 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2002 | 2001 | 2001 | 2001 | ||
| (in thousands) | July | July | Change | July | July | Q2 | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 |
| Nordic | 6,452 | 5,866 | 10% | 5 | 122 | 1 | 172 | 198 | 332 | 81 |
| Eastern Europe & Russia | 1,253 | 496 | 153% | 36 | 15 | 116 | 105 | 422 | 93 | 124 |
| Central Europe | 3,437 | 2,768 | 24% | 14 | -47 | 133 | 99 | 243 | 133 | 4 |
| Southern Europe | 4,826 | 3,691 | 31% | 83 | 38 | 212 | 245 | 418 | 215 | 234 |
| Luxembourg | 222 | 191 | 16% | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 13 | 13 |
| Total number of customers | 16,190 | 13,012 | 24% | 139 | 133 | 467 | 626 | 1,293 | 786 | 456 |
| TELE2 IN SWEDEN* (MSEK) | |||||||
| *Optimal Telecom is included from January 1, 2002 | |||||||
| 2002 | 2001 | 2002 | 2002 | 2001 | 2001 | 2001 | |
| July | July | Q2 | Q1 | Q4 | Q3 | Q2 | |
| OPERATING REVENUE | |||||||
| Mobile telephony | 566 | 490 | 1,670 | 1,589 | 1,513 | 1,560 | 1,377 |
| Fixed telephony and Internet | 282 | 238 | 956 | 1,048 | 853 | 726 | 782 |
| Cable Television | 23 | 12 | 60 | 58 | 49 | 39 | 26 |
| Total Tele2 in Sweden | 871 | 740 | 2,686 | 2,695 | 2,415 | 2,325 | 2,185 |
| EBITDA | |||||||
| Mobile telephony | 310 | 294 | 938 | 874 | 808 | 897 | 730 |
| Fixed telephony and Internet | 61 | 56 | 219 | 216 | 220 | 161 | 141 |
| Cable Television | 5 | -5 | 9 | 4 | 19 | -15 | -19 |
| Total Tele2 in Sweden | 376 | 345 | 1,166 | 1,094 | 1,047 | 1,043 | 852 |
| EBITDA margin | |||||||
| Mobile telephony | 55% | 60% | 56% | 55% | 53% | 58% | 53% |
| Fixed telephony and Internet | 22% | 24% | 23% | 21% | 26% | 22% | 18% |
| Cable Television | 22% | -42% | 15% | 7% | 39% | -38% | -73% |
| Total Tele2 in Sweden | 43% | 47% | 43% | 41% | 43% | 45% | 39% |
Tele2 AB, formed in 1993, is the leading alternative pan-European telecommunications company offering fixed and mobile telephony, data network and Internet services under the brands Tele2, Tango and Comviq to 16.2 million people in 21 countries. Tele2 operates Datametrix, which specializes in systems integration, 3C Communications, operating public pay telephones and public Internet services; Transac, providing billing and transaction processing service; C³, offering co-branded pre-paid calling cards and Optimal Telecom, the price-guaranteed residential router device. The Group offers cable television services under the Kabelvision brand name and together with MTG, owns the Internet portal Everyday.com. The Company is listed on the Stockholmsbörsen, under TEL2A and TEL2B, and on the Nasdaq Stock Market under TLTOA and TLTOB.
CONTACTS:
Tele2 AB
| Lars-Johan Jarnheimer | Telephone: + 46 8 562 640 00 |
| President and CEO, Tele2 AB | |
| Håkan Zadler | Telephone: +46 8 562 640 00 |
| CFO | |
| Andrew Best, Investor Relations, London | Telephone: +44 7798 576378 |
Visit our web site at www.tele2.com