BCI Announces Fourth Quarter Results.Business Editors MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2001 BELL CANADA Bell Canada Enterprises (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE), legally BCE Inc., is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Through its subsidiaries including Bell Canada, Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for INTERNATIONAL INC inc - /ink/ increment, i.e. increase by one. Especially used by assembly programmers, as many assembly languages have an "inc" mnemonic. Antonym: dec. . (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :BCICF)(TSE See Tokyo Stock Exchange. TSE 1. See Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE). 2. See Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). :BI.) - Company forms Telecom Americas Ltd. with America Movil and SBC to pursue expansion opportunities in Latin America - Total Latin American mobile subscribers exceed 3.5 million at year-end Bell Canada International Inc. ("BCI BCI Bat Conservation International BCI Brain-Computer Interface BCI Business Continuity Institute BCI Business Cycle Indicators BCI Banco de Credito e Inversiones (Chilean bank) BCI Bell Canada International ") today released results for the fourth quarter ending December December: see month. 31, 2000. During the fourth quarter, BCI announced the closing of its joint venture agreement with Mexico's America America [for Amerigo Vespucci], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller is the first known cartographic use of the name. Movil and Texas-based SBC (1) (SBC Communications Inc., San Antonio, TX, www.sbc.com) A large, national telecommunications company that grew from a multitude of local and regional companies, including Southwestern Bell, Pacific Bell and Nevada Bell, into a single, unified brand by 2002. Communications and the formation of Telecom Americas A·mer·i·cas , the See America. Ltd. - a $6 billion facilities-based company which will serve as the three partners' principal vehicle for expansion in Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. . "With the successful divestment divestment to strip one's investment from an entity. of our Asian properties and the addition of our 44.3% interest in the newly-formed Telecom Americas Ltd., BCI enters 2001 well-positioned to achieve our core strategic objective: to be a player of consequence in Latin America", stated BCI's Chief Executive Officer, Louis Louis, titular duke of Burgundy Louis, 1682–1712, titular duke of Burgundy; grandson of King Louis XIV of France. He became heir to the throne on the death (1711) of his father, Louis the Great Dauphin. Tanguay. RESULTS FROM OPERATIONS Total subscribers served by BCI's operations increased 61% to 6.8 million as at December 31 from 4.2 million as at September September: see month. 30, with total Latin Lat·in n. 1. a. The Indo-European language of the ancient Latins and Romans and the most important cultural language of western Europe until the end of the 17th century. b. American American, river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Augustus) along the river in 1848 led to the California gold rush of mobile subscribers exceeding 3.5 million. The increase in total subscribers to nearly 7 million is attributable to the inclusion of the 1.6 million subscriber subscriber, n the person, usually the employee, who represents the family unit in relation to the prepayment plan. Other family members are dependents. Also called certificate holders or enrollees. base of Telecom Americas' Brazilian cellular company, ATL (Active Template Library) A set of software routines from Microsoft that provide the basic framework for creating ActiveX and COM objects. Stemming from the standard template library (STL) that comes with C++ compilers, ATL includes an object wizard that sets up , as well as substantial subscriber increases in all Latin America cellular companies and BCI's competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) in Brazil Brazil (brəzĭl`), Port. Brasil, officially Federative Republic of Brazil, republic (2005 est. pop. 186,113,000), 3,286,470 sq mi (8,511,965 sq km), E South America. and Mexico Mexico, city, Mexico Mexico or Mexico City, Span. Ciudad de México (Méjico), city (1990 pop. 8,236,960; 1991 met. area est. 20,899,000), central Mexico, capital and largest city of Mexico. . BCI's proportionate pro·por·tion·ate adj. Being in due proportion; proportional. tr.v. pro·por·tion·at·ed, pro·por·tion·at·ing, pro·por·tion·ates To make proportionate. subscribers (based on BCI's percentage ownership in each of its operations) totalled 1.45 million as at December 31. If subscribers in both the fourth and third quarters of 2000 were restated on the same basis used subsequent to the formation of Telecom Americas, total subscribers would have increased 21% during the fourth quarter from 5.6 million at the end of the third quarter. Fourth Quarter 2000 v. Third Quarter 2000 Consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter of 2000 were $178 million compared to consolidated revenues of $192 million in the third quarter of 2000. On a proportionate basis, BCI's revenues for the fourth quarter were $138 million compared to $147 million in the third quarter. The reduction in revenues is attributable to the sale of the Korean Korean, language of uncertain ancestry. It is thought by some scholars to be akin to Japanese, by others to be a member of the Altaic subfamily of the Ural-Altaic family of languages (see Uralic and Altaic languages), and by still others to be unrelated to any known PCS (1) (Personal Communications Services) Refers to wireless services that emerged after the U.S. government auctioned commercial licenses in 1994 and 1995. This radio spectrum in the 1. provider, Hansol Hansol is a South Korean conglomerate, or chaebol. Its main operations are construction, electronics, tourism, chemicals, household interiors, paper products, telecom, and logistics. M.com earlier in 2000, offset partially by the contribution of ATL to fourth quarter results following the formation of Telecom Americas Ltd. If revenues in both the fourth and third quarters of 2000 were restated on the same accounting basis used subsequent to the formation of Telecom Americas, consolidated revenues would have shown an increase of $30 million or 20% versus a decrease of $14 million as reported. Consolidated EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) A metric used to show a company's profitability, but not its cash flow. EBITDA became popular in the 1980s to show the potential profitability of leveraged buyouts, but has become was negative $43 million in the fourth quarter of 2000 compared to negative $25 million for the third quarter, while proportionate EBITDA for the fourth quarter was negative $45 million compared to negative $29 million for the prior quarter. The reduction in fourth quarter EBITDA is attributable primarily to the sale of Hansol M.com in Q3 2000, as well as a lower quarterly contribution from Colombian and Taiwanese mobile operations. BCI reported a net loss of $132 million in the fourth quarter of 2000, compared to net earnings of $754 million in the third quarter of 2000. The third quarter profit reflected a gain of $1.02 billion on the sale of Hansol M.com. The formation of Telecom Americas Ltd. during the fourth quarter resulted in a $530 million gain for BCI which will be deferred and amortized over a 13 year period. BCI expects to receive net proceeds Net Proceeds The amount received after all costs are deducted from the sale of a piece of property or security. Notes: In the case of an investor selling a security, net proceeds represent the proceeds from the sale minus any trading costs (i.e. commissions). of approximately $730 million during the first quarter of 2001 in consideration for the sale of its 20% minority interest in the Taiwanese PCS provider, KG Telecom. Fourth Quarter 2000 v. Fourth Quarter 1999 Consolidated revenues for the fourth quarter of 2000 decreased 17% from consolidated revenues of $215 million reported in the fourth quarter of 1999. Proportionate revenues for the fourth quarter of 2000 were 15% lower than proportionate revenues of $162 million in the fourth quarter of 1999. The decrease in revenues is mainly attributable to the sale of Hansol M.com, partially offset by growth in revenues from BCI's Latin American operations. Consolidated EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2000 was $2 million below consolidated EBITDA of negative $41 million in the fourth quarter of 1999, while proportionate EBITDA was $2.5 million above proportionate EBITDA of negative $48 million in the corresponding 1999 period. EBITDA results in the fourth quarter of 2000 were mainly attributable to the early stage losses incurred by BCI's CLEC (Competitive Local Exchange Carrier) An organization offering local telephone service that is not one of the traditional telephone companies. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed competition to the incumbent telcos (ILECs), enabling new companies (CLECs) operations in Brazil and the Venezuelan broadband wireless See wireless broadband. venture, Genesis, all launched in 2000. In contrast, EBITDA results in the fourth quarter of the prior year were driven by results at Hansol M.com. BCI's net loss of $132 million for the fourth quarter of 2000 compares to a net loss of $169 million in the fourth quarter of 1999. On a full year basis, consolidated revenues for 2000 were $865 million compared to $807 million for 1999. Consolidated EBITDA for 2000 was negative $77 million compared to $45 million for 1999. BCI's net profit for 2000 was $250 million compared to a net loss of $481 million during the twelve months of 1999. During the fourth quarter, BCI received funds generated from the disposition of Asian assets. As a result, the Company entered 2001 from a position of substantial financial strength, with cash and cash equivalents, pending proceeds and unused credit facilities credit facilities npl → facilidades fpl de crédito credit facilities npl → facilités fpl de paiement credit facilities totalling approximately $1.3 billion.
OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
- The Brazilian mobile operations of Telecom Americas (ATL, Telet and
Americel) added 467,000 subscribers during the fourth quarter to
serve over 2.5 million total subscribers at year-end. After just two
years in operation, ATL enjoys nearly a 40% market share in the key
Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro and adjacent Espirito Santo.
- The Colombian cellular company, Comcel, increased its subscriber
base by 160,000 or 18% during the fourth quarter to exceed 1 million
customers at year-end - the largest quarterly increase since the
first quarter of 1998. The company continued to manage a migration
of subscribers from post-paid to prepaid products and services, with
72% of customers now prepaid versus 43% one year earlier. BCI
believes that the growing prepaid subscriber base will result in the
realization of improved revenues and lower bad debts in 2001.
- The Brazilian broadband cable company, Canbras Communications Corp.
("Canbras") (TSE: CBC) experienced continuing strong subscriber
growth in its core cable operations in Metro Sao Paulo. The
company's recently launched high speed Internet access service and
ISP (Canbras Net) achieved encouraging initial results in both the
residential and corporate customer segments, increasing the combined
subscriber base by 88% during the quarter to nearly 4,000 customers
as at December 31. At year-end, 65% of the network in Metro Sao
Paulo had been converted to bi-directional status, with the entire
network to be bi-directional by the end of 2001.
- The recently launched Venezuelan broadband wireless company,
Genesis, has secured WLL licences in 4 of the 5 regions of
Venezuela, including the capital of Caracas, at a cumulative cost of
$8.3 million. Genesis will be seeking to secure the fifth regional
licence in the next round of bidding. Already the holder of LMDS
licences, Genesis will now be able to provide a range of high-speed
data and IP-based voice services to Venezuelan businesses.
- BCI's Mexican CLEC, Axtel, increased its lines in service by 29%
during the fourth quarter to 223,000 as at December 31, 2000, with a
65% residential and 35% business customer mix. During the quarter,
Axtel launched a point-to-multipoint access technology which will
allow the company to provide a range of services to the small and
medium-sized business market segment in the three largest cities of
Mexico - Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey. Axtel also launched
its service in the 3 cities of Puebla, Toluca and Leon, which
contain a combined population exceeding 3 million.
- BCI's Brazilian CLECs, Vesper Sao Paulo and Vesper S.A. (the
"Vespers") increased their lines in service by 55% relative to the
third quarter, ending their first year of operation with 493,000
lines. The Vespers also completed the second phase of their
buildout, launching service in 35 additional Brazilian cities. As
announced on September 26, BCI has signed an agreement to sell its
interest in the Vespers to VeloCom Inc. for gross proceeds of US$875
million payable in the first quarter of 2001. BCI has recently
received a notice from VeloCom requesting a 60 day extension in
respect of its acquisition of the Vespers. BCI is currently
considering this request.
BCI owns and develops advanced communications companies Communications Company is a communications unit of the United States Marine Corps. They are part of Combat Logistics Regiment 37 , 3rd Marine Logistics Group (3MLG) and III Marine Expeditionary Force (III MEF). The unit is based out of the Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. in markets outside Canada Canada (kăn`ədə), independent nation (2001 pop. 30,007,094), 3,851,787 sq mi (9,976,128 sq km), N North America. Canada occupies all of North America N of the United States (and E of Alaska) except for Greenland and the French islands of , with a focus on Latin America. A subsidiary of BCE BCE abbr. 1. Bachelor of Chemical Engineering 2. Bachelor of Civil Engineering BCE Abbreviation for before the Common Era. Inc., Canada's largest communications company, BCI is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE) Canada's largest stock exchange, trading approximately 1,200 company stocks and 33 options. under the symbol BI and on the NASDAQ National Market under the symbol BCICF. Visit our Web site at www.bci.ca. Certain statements made in this press release describing BCI's intentions, expectations or predictions are forward-looking for·ward-look·ing adj. Concerned with or making provision for the future: forward-looking educators; a forward-looking corporate plan. Adj. 1. and are subject to important risks and uncertainties. The results or events predicted in these statements may differ materially from actual results or events. For additional information with respect to risk factors relevant to BCI, see the reports on Forms 6-K and 40-F filed by BCI with the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as the Annual Information Form filed with Canadian Canadian (kənā`dēən), river, 906 mi (1,458 km) long, rising in NE New Mexico. and flowing E across N Texas and central Oklahoma into the Arkansas River in E Oklahoma. securities commissions. BCI disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. , whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Selected Consolidated Financial Information (Unaudited)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fourth Quarter 2000
(Cdn$ thousands except per share data)
Three months ended Twelve months ended
December 31, December 31,
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2000 1999 2000 1999
Income Statement and Cash Flow
Revenues 177,922 214,510 864,970 806,931
EBITDA (1) (43,142) (41,063) (77,445) 44,983
Net earnings (loss)
applicable to
common shares* (131,886) (169,001) 250,408 (480,669)
Net earnings (loss) per
common share (2) (1.67) (2.14) 3.17 (6.10)
* Includes the recording of 100% of the losses of Comcel effective
from May 1999.
As at As at
December December
31, 31,
2000 1999
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Balance Sheet
Total cash, temporary
investments and notes
receivable
Corporate 1,127,456 109,572
Operating Companies 54,417 151,693
Total assets 4,442,017 3,680,889
Short-term debt
Corporate 805,979 511,000
Operating Companies 220,171 185,731
Long-term debt (3)
Corporate 160,000 160,000
Operating Companies 1,528,422 1,827,100
Total shareholders'
equity 619,681 364,211
Selected Proportionate Information (Unaudited) (4)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Fourth Quarter 2000
(Cdn$ thousands except POPs and subscribers)
Three months ended Twelve months ended
December 31, December 31,
---------------------------------------------------------------------
2000 1999 2000 1999
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Proportionate POPs
(millions) 92.9 113.0
Proportionate
subscribers 1,452,340 1,360,926
Proportionate revenue 137,786 161,722 672,320 547,649
Proportionate EBITDA (45,350) (47,841) (113,668) (12,850)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) EBITDA means operating earnings before depreciation and
amortization and special charges.
(2) Net earnings (loss) per common share is based on 79.0 million
average common shares outstanding for the three months ended
December 31, 2000 and 78.9 million for the twelve months ended
December 31, 2000 and 78.8 million for the three and twelve months
ended December 31, 1999.
(3) Long-term debt includes current portion of long-term debt.
(4) Proportionate numbers reflect BCI's percentage ownership interest
in each of its operations. Operations which under generally
accepted accounting principles are consolidated or equity
accounted are proportionately presented on this basis. Prior to
June 1st, 1999, KG Telecom was not included as it was accounted
for at cost.
BCI Principal Operations
---------------------------------------------------------------------
As at December 31, 2000
POPs (Millions) (1) Subscribers
------------------- ---------------
Equity Propor- Total Propor-
Company (Country) Interest Total tionate tionate
----------------- -------- ----- -------- ------ -------
Brazil Mobile
ATL (Brazil) 22.1% 17.5 3.9 1,630,838 360,415
Americel (Brazil) 7.2% 13.4 1.0 396,127 28,521
Telet (Brazil) 7.2% 9.6 0.7 524,546 37,767
---------------------------------------------------------------------
40.5 5.6 2,551,511 426,703
Brazil Broadband
Canbras - Cable
(Brazil) (2) 31.3% 1.2 0.4 180,689 34,695
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Spanish Americas Mobile
Comcel (Colombia)
(2) 30.3% 33.0 8.9 1,029,758 286,465
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Spanish Americas
Broadband
Genesis Telecom
(Venezuela) 22.6% 22.0 5.0 132 30
---------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL - TELECOM
AMERICAS 96.7 19.9 3,762,090 747,893
Latin America CLEC
Axtel (Mexico) 27.4% 96.0 26.3 222,922 61,081
Vespers (Brazil) 34.4% 123.0 42.3 493,169 169,650
BV Interativa
(Brazil) 45.0% n/a n/a 22,367 10,065
---------------------------------------------------------------------
219.0 68.6 738,458 240,796
Asia Mobile
KG Telecom (Taiwan)
(2) 20.0% 21.9 4.4 2,318,254 463,651
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL - BCI 337.6 92.9 6,818,802 1,452,340
---------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) Licenced POPs reflect estimates by BCI. The figures for Canbras
Communications represent the estimated number of households in the
licenced areas.
(2) Proportionate POPs and subscribers for KG Telecom, Comcel and
Canbras include equity interests in underlying operating entities.
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