Hanaro Telecom Reports First Profit, Subscriber Growth Stalls

Hanaro Telecom, one of Korea's largest broadband Internet access and local call service providers, reported its first quarterly profit and said that had overcome an immediate cash requirement issue by securing significant foreign investment. Hanaro will issue US$500 million in common shares to a consortium led by Newbridge Capital and American International Group, which will hold approximately 40% stake in Hanaro. Additionally, the consortium is also raising $600 million via a syndicated loan for the Company to assist in debt service.


For the quarter ending 30-Sep-03, Hanaro reported net income result of KRW 5.7 billion (US$ 5.0 million) and operating profit of KRW 42.2 billion. EBITDA jumped to a record high of KRW 151.3 billion with an EBITDA margin of 42.9%. The company attributed the improvement to an overall cost reduction of 4.9% quarter-on-quarter, mainly resulting from a substantial drop in marketing costs.


The total broadband subscriber base at the end of 3Q03 was 2,975,338, representing a slight increase of 0.4% from 2,963,514 at the end of 2Q03, reflecting the discontinuation of promotional initiatives.


In 3Q03, the proportion of subscribers for products such as VDSL, Pro, Mid and Lite were 4.8%, 16.2%, 4.1%, and 74.9%, respectively.
http://www.hanaro.com