Romtelecom's profit down, voluntary leave program costs up three times

Telecom company Romtelecom posted a profit after taxes of EUR 154.7 million last year, down 38.7 percent on 2009, due to difficult market conditions. The company's revenues were also down 8.4 percent, to EUR 716 million. “2010 was a difficult year for Romtelecom, the same as for the entire telecom market in Romania, that had to face the customers' needs to reduce budgets for communication and entertainment. It would have been difficult on any telecom market, but it was even more difficult on the Romanian one, with the biggest competition in the region price wise,” said Yorgos Ioannidis, general manager of Romtelecom. Romtelecom has 4.7 million subscribers at the end of last year, according to the company and exceeded one million customers for broadband services, as well as TV services. The company's voluntary leave program brought alone three times higher costs than in 2009, to EUR 24.2 million. Romtelecom is majority owned by Greek OTE, which also controls telecom company Cosmote. The Romanian state also holds a stake in Romtelecom, that is currently trying to sell. editor@romania-insider.com More news about Romtelecom: Romania proposes Cosmote – Romtelecom merger before stock exchange listing Romtelecom to reduce staff by further 1,400, focus on internet and TV while keeping an eye on costs