Vodafone-Panafon announces full-year results for the 12 months ended 31st March 2003 prepared according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS(1)) .Revenues for the period under review increased by 26.8% reaching euro 1,255million compared to ?990 million for the previous year. Revenue growth was driven by customer base growth (14%) - particularly growth in the contract segment (19.3%) that sustained and expanded strong ARPU(2) and AMOU(3) - as well as mobile to mobile (M2M(4)) termination charges. Revenues excluding M2M charges grew by 17.2%. Gross blended ARPU for the year ended 31 March 2003 was euro 30.3 compared to euro 28.4 for the year ended 31st March 2002, representing a 7% increase. Excluding M2M effect and despite tariff cuts, which occurred in the year under review, ARPU reached euro 27.4 versus euro 28.01 in March 2002. Comparing ARPU trends on a half-yearly basis, it remained strong due to increased usage patterns of the premium quality base as well as M2M effect that was introduced in January 2002. In the second half of the year under review (October - March 2003) ARPU increased by 13% compared to the second half of the previous year, while AMOU for the same period reached 95 minutes or 27% higher year on year. Blended AMOU reached 96 minutes representing a 25% increase year on year. On the contract segment, AMOU grew to the record level of 233 minutes 37% higher than the previous year. Even excluding M2M effect AMOU increased to 78 minutes, 7% higher year on year. Service revenues increased by 27.7% representing 90.6% of total revenue. Outgoing airtime revenue increased by 20.5%, despite tariff cuts, driven mainly by increased usage patterns of high quality customers attracted and maintained within the network(Ι). Data revenues (including SMS and WAP) reached ?142.3 million, 22.3% higher than the previous year, representing 12.6% of service revenue. Data revenue growth is attributed to the increased data uptake following a new service offering in SMS (content SMS) as well as new product initiatives eg: MMS and Vodafone live!. Data ARPU for the year increased to euro 3.86, while average SMS per customer per month reached 41 messages. During the period under review Vodafone launched the Vodafone live! proposition which within 2 ½ months of operation surpassed all targets with more than 25,000 live! customers. Regarding MMS usage, since April 2003 Vodafone - Panafon recorded 100,000 MMS users that send approximately 180,000 chargeable MMS per month. Monthly Access Revenues reached euro 134.2million, 37.8% higher year on year due to the successful uptake of the new bundle tariff plans launched in the market in the year under review, as well as the improving customer mix in favor of contract evidenced throughout the year. Cost of sales reached ?612.6 million versus euro 432.5 million in the previous year or 41.6% higher. Excluding M2M effect, cost of sales grew 20.4% due to increased interconnection cost as a result of higher outgoing traffic and higher acquisition spending as a result of stronger contract additions especially in the last quarter (Jan-Mar ‘03) of the year. Gross profit margin reached 51.2% - 5.1 percentage points lower than last year mainly due to the M2M effect. EBITDA(5) increased by 13.9% to euro 487.1 million versus euro 427.5 million in the previous year. EBITDA margin was 38.8% - a reduction of 4.4 percentage points from last year due to the introduction of M2M termination charges, and the increased merchandise sales that took place following the stronger contract gross additions. Excluding M2M and merchandise effect, EBITDA margin was 46.5%, reflecting the core business margin. Selling, General & Administrative expenses excluding depreciation and amortization totaled euro 262.4, 19.9% higher than last year. The year under review SG&A represent a lower percent of total revenues (20.9%) compared to the previous year (22.1%). This achievement reflects the continuous efforts to realize synergies and productivity. Depreciation and amortisation increased to euro 170.2 million, 30.3% higher than the previous year, reflecting the amortization of the extra spectrum acquired in 2G, goodwill amortization and accumulated capex. Income before taxes remained flat versus last year at euro 273.3 million, despite the effect of the following one-off items: investment write off of euro 11.4 million, disposal of obsolete fixed assets of euro 15.2 million and e-motion trade mark write off of euro 5.4 million. Excluding the above one-off items, income before taxes grew by 11.7% versus last year. Losses from associate companies reduced significantly to euro 3.1 million versus euro 5.9 million last year reflecting the acquisitions, the improved results and the significant improvement in the performance of Vodafone Albania. Net income reached euro 161.7 million, diluted by 4.5% versus euro 169.3 in the previous year, affected by a higher effective tax rate (40.9%) resulting from the above mentioned one-off items. Excluding the one off items Net Income grew approximately 10.1% versus a year ago. Subscriber acquisition and retention costs represented 8.9% of total revenues compared to 8% for the year ended 31 March 2002 reflecting the strong contract gross additions of the second half of the year and the increased investment in retaining high value customers. Net Cash available(6) was positive at euro 155.8 million, reflecting the ability to fully finance on going investment needs and at the same time reduce debt levels. As a result, net debt to equity ratio improved to 0.34x versus 0.56x at the end of March 2002. Capex on fixed assets for the period totaled euro 182 million. This amount excludes the capex commitments reported as of March 2002. The total customer base for the year ended 31 March 2003, reached 3,382,765 representing a 14.1% increase compared to March 2002. Contract customers reached 978,751, increasing 19.3% compared to 31 March 2002, while prepaid customers reached 2,404,014 increasing 12.1% versus the previous year and representing 71% of the total customer base. Contract net additions for the year ended 31 March 2003 reached 158,324 (of which 104,573 were in the second half of the year) representing more than 100% increase compared to the net contract additions for the previous year ended 31 March 2002, while prepay net additions for the year increased to 258,637. Annual blended churn for the year ended 31 March 2003 reached 24.2%. Contract churn decreased to 35% from 36.7% in the previous comparative period. Prepaid churn increased to 19.9% from 9.5% due to the change in the disconnection period policy from 12 to 18 months that took place in the previous year. Vodafone-Panafon's active customer base(7) in the last quarter (Jan-Mar ‘03) reached 75% from 77% in the previous quarter (Oct-Dec ‘02) mainly due to prepay inactivity which reached 32.8% affected by strong promotional activities during the Christmas period. On the other hand, contract inactivity reduced to 6% from 7% in the previous quarter attributed to the retention and increase of high usage customers. Albania Vodafone (Albania)(8) total customer base for the year ended 31 March 2003, reached 391,057 increasing its market share to 42.1%. Vodafone Albania ARPU reached ?18.34, while AMOU reached 72.2 minutes. Revenue for the year ended 31st March 2003 was euro 65.3 million(9) and EBITDA reached euro 18.1 million. Net losses reached euro 5.5 million. Vodafone-Panafon's CEO, Mr George Koronias, commenting on the results said: "Vodafone announced a strong set of results that reflect the company's resilient growth in all key areas with emphasis on the improvement of the customer mix in favor of contract, the strengthening of the distribution network as well as the promotion of innovative products and services as: Vodafone live!, Vodafone Mobile Connect Card. The improvement in the company financials reinforces the company's outstanding position in the telecoms sector adding value to its customers and shareholders. Going forward and in line with Vodafone group targets we expect sustainable trends in ARPU and usage empowered by a high quality customer base with improved mix towards contract, strong data initiatives and a variety of 3G services?. (1)Audited consolidated financial statements according to (IFRS) previously noted as (IAS). Vodafone - Panafon fiscal year ends 31st March (2)ARPU= monthly average revenue per registered user (3)AMOU= average minutes of use (4) M2M termination charges increased from euro 0.10 in January 2002 to euro 0.16 in June 2002 and euro 0.18 in October 2002. (5)EBITDA = operating income + depreciation & amortization (6)Net cash available = operating cash flow minus cash for capex payments, investments and dividends (7) Inactive customers are those who did not generate incoming & outgoing revenue in the last 3 months. (8) Vodafone Greece holds 49% of the share capital of Vodafone (Albania), while Vodafone International Holdings BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc, holds 51%. (9) LEK/EURO exchange rate used: 140.46 (Ι)As of February 2003 the following accounting invoicing with OTE took place: Vodafone - Panafon invoices the net amount to OTE, instead of the gross which included not only the Vodafone - Panafon revenue but also the additional part reimbursed to OTE. The new invoicing method avoids the booking of an equal amount as revenues and costs. This reduces revenues but improves margins. The effect in Vodafone-Panafon's annual results for the fiscal year ended 31 March 2003 is not significant.