Connex revenues up 39% in fourth quarter

Mobile telephony operator Connex-Vodafone posted a service revenue increase of 39% in the last three months of last year, compared with the corresponding period in 2004.

Connex-Vodafone attracted more than 600,000 new subscribers, and its total customer base reached 6.13 million, up 25% on the previous year. The number of 3G users in the Connex-Vodafone network reached 97,300 at the end of last year.

“We had a very good strategy, which I don”t think needs changing,” Liliana Solomon, chief executive officer Connex-Vodafone told ZIARUL FINANCIAR in an interview last week. “I am really delighted with what Connex-Vodafone”s employees have achieved and I honestly believe we owe the success and the extraordinary accomplishments of the company to them. They are the best asset of Vodafone”s investment and we will continue to rely on them to reach our goals.”

Considering the growth in revenues and the fact that service revenues in the last three months of 2004 amounted to 192.9 million dollars, the revenues from October through December 2005 reached some 268 million dollars (227 million euros at the average exchange rate of the quarter). Given the growth announced by the company and the previous financial results, Connex-Vodafone”s total results for last year exceeded 950 million dollars (766 million euros).

Connex-Vodafone did not reveal the nominal value of the revenues.

The company announced the average monthly revenue per user (ARPU – an essential indicator in the mobile telephony industry) in the quarter increased by 10% to 15.4 dollars (some 12.4 euros) from the same quarter of 2004. However, the average monthly revenue per user went down slightly from the previous quarter, when it stood at 15.9 dollars (12.8 euros). Traditionally this market sees the ARPU go down artificially in December, because this is a time when many new customers are added, and which do not generate significant revenues in such a short period of time.