Weaker zloty blamed for PTC's 3rd quarter net loss

Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC), Eastern Europe's top mobile phone operator, recorded a surprise net loss of zl.152 million in the third quarter, having made a zl.37 million net profit in the same quarter of last year. The compan y, which operates the Era GSM network, points out that its operating profit increased by 20% to zl.287 million in the quarter, and blames the net loss o n changes in the value of the zloty. "Strong operating results in the third quarter of 2001 were offset by the zloty's devaluation against the dollar an d the euro, resulting in foreign exchange losses," PTC said in a statement. A large part of PTC's zl.5.2 billion debt is denominated in foreign currency , making it vulnerable to moves on the foreign exchange markets. In the firs t nine months of 2001, PTC recorded a net profit of nearly zl.200 million, c ompared with a zl.106 million net loss in the same period of last year. PTC' s subscriber base grew by 200,000 in the third quarter, to reach a total of over 3.5 million. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 4; Reuters) M.T.