TIM reports net profit increase of 22.6%.

www.europemedia.net 11/03/2003 Editor: Leigh Phillips

Italian mobile operator Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) has reported an increase in net profit E1.165bn, or 22.6 per cent.

The operator had a one-off charge of E1.41bn for the write-off of its holding in Aria IS-TIM, a Turkish mobile operator, as well as for the write-downs for the company’s shares in Digitel Venezuela and Maxitel Brazil.

The company made gains over the course of the year by selling off its holdings in Bouygues Télécom, Mobilkom Austria and Auna, a Spanish operator.

Excepting all this, the company said its profits would have grown by 19.3 per cent, posting profits of E10.87bn for 2002, an increase of six per cent on 2001.

As of December 31, 2002, the TIM group had 39.1m mobile subscribers, an increase from last year of 12.2 per cent.