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To: slacker711 who wrote (103526)	9/2/2001 10:58:15 AM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 152472

As usual, it is nearly impossible to find the exact information that you want when looking at foreign companies. However, here is some information on the financial viability of a couple of future 3G carriers in Europe. Vodafone..... fool.co.uk Vodafone produced operating profits of £4.9b last year and operating profit margins of 33%. After interest payments and tax there was £2.4b in profits left for investors. So that means that at the current market value of £88b that Vodafone is still priced at 37 times earnings for the last 12 months. For the year to March 2002 profits after tax are expected to increase to around £3.3b, although the range of forecasts is very wide. Taking the average the company is valued at 27 times forward earnings. Not cheap, so do the growth prospects beyond 2002 justify paying such a price now? The growth prospects rely on the growth of data revenues because voice revenues per user are expected to decline. Currently, only 7% of revenues come from data. Over the next 10 years this is expected to increase to between 50% and 60%. Regulation of mobile pricing is getting tougher too. But if Vodafone's revenue growth, and hence its profit growth, comes from new products and services rather than raising prices on existing ones then the impact of regulation on profit margins should be reduced. 3G costs are also an issue. Vodafone expects to fork out £10b over the next five years, having spent £13b on the licences last year. Given Vodafone's size these costs look manageable. But they will hamper future profit growth although they shouldn't increase debts levels beyond the current £7b mark. Telefonica.... businessweek.com UNDERVALUED? Telefonica boasts other strengths -- $24.2 billion in sales, with profits of $2.1 billion in 2000. By staying out of those high-stakes European auctions for wireless spectrum licenses, Telefonica kept its debt to $25.3 billion dollars -- less than half the levels of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom. Additionally, Telefonica's Standard & Poor's A+ debt rating is higher than those of other operators. "Telefonica is not a financially risky company, especially in comparison with its European competitors," says analyst Bosco Ojeda of UBS Warburg. Hutchinson Whampoa... Wasnt able to find information on their debt level....but a passage from their interim report indicated that they had lined up 3.2 Billion pounds in financing for the 3G UK project. This was expected to fund capital expenditures and operations for three to four years. 202.66.146.82 PCSTEL/Elmatador/Art/John....will someone kindly explain to me why these companies (particuarly Hutchinson) will not build-out W-CDMA? They are still profitable and their access to capital has been unimpeded over the last 18 months. As I said before....the technical problems associated with W-CDMA worry me more than the funding issues. Slacker