DJ Brazil's Tele Norte Leste 1Q Net Pft BRR221.3M Vs BRR141.8M
Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA (Telemar) - Rio de Janeiro
Three Months Ending March 31:
Figures in reals (BRR).
1999 1998
Gross operating revenue 1.88 bln 1.68 bln
Net operating revenue 1.40 bln 1.23 bln
EBITDA 753.1 mln 620.6 mln
Net profit 221.3 mln 141.8 mln
Earnings per share (EPS)-a 0.6617 0.4240
($1=BRR1.6545)
a. per thousand shares
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil's Tele Norte Leste Participacoes SA (TNE) said Monday it
recorded a net profit of 221.3 million reals ($1=BRR1.6545) in the quarter ended March 31, a 56%
increase in local currency terms over the BRR141.8 million posted in the same year-ago quarter.
Tele Norte Leste, a telecommunications holding that operates 16 companies under the Telemar brand,
attributed its increased receipts to savings from a 26% workforce cut, that resulted in a 25% reduction
in personnel expenses. The company inherited a bloated payroll from its previous owner, former
state-monopoly Telecomunicacoes Brasileiras SA (TBR), or Telebras, which was privatized last July.
Tele Norte Leste said it posted losses of BRR426 million related to a depreciation of the real, which lost
about 30% of its value against the dollar since January, when it was allowed to float freely.
The holding's gross operating revenue rose to BRR1.88 billion, from BRR1.68 billion, after installed lines
rose by 1.5 million to 9.2 million, the company said.
Earnings per thousand shares in the first quarter of the year stood at BRR0.6617, up from BRR0.4240
in the same period in 1998.
In early trading Monday on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange, Tele Norte Leste preferred shares were
tracking the broader market's downturn, off 0.7% at BRR32.79 per thousand.
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