PTC announces increased profits and market share

Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), operator of Era, the country's largest mobile telephone network, has announced that it turned a net profit of zl. 65.46 million on revenues of zl. 2.321 billion over the first half of this year. "Despite sustained market stagnation and a possible decline in the sales of pre-paid sets connected with changes in telecom law, we remain conservative optimists," said Boguslaw Kulakowski, President and Director General of PTC. Kulakowski stated that the network intends to maintain its leading position on the market and to end the year with 4.8 million clients and revenues 15% higher than in 2001. The number of Era customers increased over the first half of the year by over 46,000, with the number of sub scribers up by over 5,000 and 41,000 new pre-paid customers. According to PTC, the mobile telephony market grew by 7.6% in the second quarter of 2002, while the total number of clients serviced by all mobile operators increased to 11.7 million. PTC has consistently reduced its considerable debt by, among other things, paying off zl. 524 million in the first half of the year, although its liabilities are to be increased due to a loan planned to redeem its dollar bonds. (Prawo I Gospodarka, p. 6, Puls Biznesu, p. 6) P.W.