TPSA reports major decline in profits for first quarter

So far, 2002 has not been a good year for Polish telecoms giant, TPSA. With the announcement of first quarter results the story does not show an i mprovement, with TPSA group's net profits for standing at zl. 120.5 m illion, while for the same period last year it was zl. 745.2 million. The net profits of TPSA for the first quarter of 2002 was zl. 322.1 million, which is a drop from zl. 703.5 million recorded last year. These figures were worse than predicted by most analysts. The market had expected the group's results to slump by 20% to 30%, but not by a figure almost double that. "At first glance, these are poor results," said Bob Creamer, telecoms analyst at Raiffeisen Zentralbank in Warsaw. "And their revenues will not improve as mobile substitution continues and competition is pushing down the price of long-distance calls," Creamer added. TPSA chairman Cezary Jozefiak remains optimistic, believing that net profits for the TPSA group in 2002 will be higher than in 2001. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 5; Reuters) M.T.