Telecom Egypt S Regulatory News (TEEG)

10 Apr 2007 07:01

Telecom Egypt S.A.E10 April 2007 Telecom Egypt Maintains Credit Rating of "AA" Stable Outlook for the Company and its EGP 2 Billion Bond Issue Cairo, 10th April, 2007: Telecom Egypt (TE) (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN), todayannounced that Middle East Rating & Investors' Service (MERIS) has maintainedits National Scale Rating of "AA" with a "Stable" outlook for the entity andbond rating. An "AA" grade denotes very strong creditworthiness and a low likelihood ofcredit loss relative to other domestic issuers. The (+/-) signs denote relativestatus within each rating category. The attached stable outlook assumes that thecompany will be able to sustain the current business and financial profile inthe medium term. - Ends - For further information:Investor Relations Contacts Tarek Tantawy, CFADirector of Investment, Treasury & Investor RelationsTelephone: +202 5788111Fax: +202 5789314 Eman AnisInvestor Relations ManagerTelephone: +202 5788787Fax: +202 5789314 E-mail: investor.relations@telecomegypt.com.eg Notes to Editors: Within this statement, we may make forward-looking statements regarding futureevents or the future performance of the Company. By their very nature,forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, bothgeneral and specific, and risks exist that the predictions, forecasts,projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved. Youshould be aware that a number of important factors could cause actual results todiffer materially from the plans, objectives, expectations, estimates andintentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. When relying onforward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the political,economic, social and legal environment in which Telecom Egypt operates. Suchforward-looking statements speak only as of the time of this release today.Accordingly, Telecom Egypt does not undertake any obligation to update or reviseany of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwiseother than as required by applicable laws, the Listing Rules or Prospectus Rulesof the United Kingdom Listing Authority, the Egyptian Capital Markets Authorityor the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange. The documents filed from time totime with these authorities may identify important factors that could causeactual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-lookingstatements. About Telecom Egypt Telecom Egypt (TE), Egypt's incumbent telecommunications operator, started itsoperations in 1854 with the first telegraph line in Egypt. Then it wascorporatized in 1998 to replace the former Arab Republic of Egypt NationalTelecommunication Organization (ARENTO). The Company is the largest provider offixed-line services in the Middle East and Africa with 10.8 million subscribersas at the end of December 2006 representing a teledensity of 15%. TE provides retail telecommunication services including access, local, longdistance and international voice, Internet and data, and other services. Thecompany also provides wholesale services including bandwidth capacity leasing toISPs, and national and international interconnection services. Telecom Egypt'sservices also include the provision of narrowband and broadband internet accessthrough its subsidiary TE Data. TE Data has active operations in Egypt andJordan. TE currently participates in the mobile segment in Egypt by providing mobileinterconnectivity through its current, increased 44.8% holding in VodafoneEgypt, one of the two existing Egyptian mobile operators. TE's shares and GDRs (Ticker: ETEL.CA; TEEG.LN) are traded on the Cairo andAlexandria Stock Exchanges and the London Stock Exchange. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange