STA, 29 July 2021 - The group Telekom Slovenije generated EUR 317.6 million in sales revenue in the first half of the year, down 1% from the same period in 2020. Net profit was up by 44% to EUR 21.3 million, Telekom said on Thursday.

"The Covid-19 pandemic had an impact on revenue in 2021, through lower revenues from our users roaming in foreign operators' networks, and foreign users roaming in our mobile networks, along with lower revenue from IT licenses," the group said in a press release published on the web site of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.

The unaudited business results were endorsed by the supervisors on Wednesday.

From January to June, earnings before interest, taxes (EBIT) amounted to EUR 29.3 million, which is the same as in the same period last year. Taking into account one-off events from 2020, EBIT in 2021 would have been 26% higher, compared to the same period last year, the group said.

The group's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up by 1% to EUR 113.7 million. Taking into account one-off events from 2020, it would have been 6% higher year on year.

The group's net profit would have been 22% higher than in the first six months of 2020.

The core company Telekom Slovenije generated 3% lower sales revenue than in the same period last year, at EUR 287.3 million.

EBITDA dropped by 2% to EUR 94 million and EBIT was down 16% to EUR 23.7 million. Net profit was up 87% to EUR 28.5 million.

"Regardless of the challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic, Telekom Slovenije Group remains financially stable and continues to adapt its activities to the changing market conditions, while carefully monitoring and assessing the risks in supply chain, credit risk, system operations and the profitability of individual services," Telekom wrote.

At the end of the year, the group expects to post EUR 653 million in revenue, EUR 210.6 million in EBITDA and EUR 30.8 million in net profit. It plans to allocate EUR 203.7 million for investment.

The supervisors gave the green light yesterday to the appointment of Rajko Gerič as the CEO of the company TSmedia for a four-year term staring on 1 August, and the appointment of Sandra Peršak as the CEO of the company TSinpo, also starting her four-year term next month.

The appointment of Mitja Štular as the head of the company GVO as of 1 August was also confirmed. Štular, a member of the Telekom Slovenije management board, will lead GVO until a new CEO is appointed, expectedly until 1 September, when Zef Vučaj is to be appointed.

The supervisors also cleared the appointment of Simon Furlan as the head of the companies Siol Beograd, Siol Podgorica, Siol Sarajevo, Siol Dooel Skopje, Siol Zagreb and Siol Prishtina.

STA, 30 September 2020 - Telekom Slovenije's sale of Planet TV to Hungarian media company TV2 Media has been finalised, the national telco said on Wednesday. The purchase price is EUR 5 million, but Telekom also provided a capital injection for its troubled subsidiary, which produces the eponymous TV channel, via debt to equity conversion before finalising the transaction.

Telekom already signed the sales contract with TV2 Media, owned by Jozsef Vida, whom media associate with the business network of the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz, in July. It said now that Planet TV has not been sold at a loss.

From Thursday, Planet TV will be formally part of TV2 group, which will add three to its portfolio of 14 TV channels.

The company said that new executive director of Planet TV will be Pavel Stantchev, already executive director at TV2. Špela Pirnat, who served as financial director between 2013 and 2016, will join Planet TV as financial director.

Stantchev pledged for the team to work hard to meet expectations of the greatest possible number of viewers, while bringing greater competitiveness and choice needed in the Slovenian market.

Telekom launched Planet TV in 2012 under the then Janez Janša government. It was reported that the telecoms incumbent had been looking for a strategic partner which would buy a 49% share in the TV production company already at the beginning of January, only to change its mind later on.

According to the newspaper Delo, Planet TV has cost Telekom Slovenije EUR 80 million in the form of capital injections, advertisements, loans and other services since it was launched in September 2012, and has operated in the red.

The latest blow was the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ordering Telekom last year to pay a EUR 23 million buyout to Antenna Group, the Greek partner who wanted out of the joint venture.

The news portal Necenzurirano.si has reported about unofficial plans to merge Planet TV and Nova24TV, the news portal and website associated with Janša's ruling Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and also in the ownership of Hungarian individuals reportedly close to Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.

Meanwhile, Telekom moreover started this month with procedures to sell its subsidiary TS Media, which owns the news portal Siol, as well as the web portals Najdi.si in Bizi.si.

STA, 7 July 2020 - National telco Telekom Slovenije signed a contract on Tuesday with Hungarian media company TV2 Media selling Planet TV, its subsidiary which produces the eponymous TV channel. TV2 Media will pay EUR 5 million for the 100% share, Telekom said in a press release. The deal is expected to be finalised by autumn.

Today's development confirms the previous media reports on the sale and the value of the deal.

Telekom's supervisors have already given the green light while all the other approvals are expected by the end of September.

TV2 Media is owned by Jozsef Vida, whom media associate with the business network of the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz. Speculation that TV2 is eyeing Planet TV started in early June, when reports also mentioned Croatian entrepreneur Ivan Ćaleta as a second candidate.

The news portal Necenzurirano.si also reported about unofficial plans to merge Planet TV and Nova24TV, the news portal and website associated with the ruling Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) and also in the ownership of Hungarian individuals reportedly close to Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.

Telekom launched Planet TV in 2012 under the then SDS-led Janez Janša government. It was reported that the telecoms incumbent had been looking for a strategic partner which would buy a 49% share in the TV production company already at the beginning of January, only to change its mind later on.

According to the newspaper Delo, Planet TV has cost Telekom Slovenije EUR 80 million in the form of capital injections, advertisements, loans and other services since it was launched in September 2012, and has operated in the red.

The latest blow was the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ordering Telekom last year to pay a EUR 23 million buyout to Antenna Group, the Greek partner who wanted out of the joint venture.

Telekom, which thus became the sole owner of Planet TV, saw the buyout significantly reduce its profit last year, which reached a mere EUR 1.2 million.

After initially announcing the search for a strategic partner, Telekom said in mid-March that selling the outright stake in Planet TV was also an option.

According to Necenzurirano.si, some supervisors expressed great reservations about the sale at today's session. They argued they had been presented only the Hungarian bid, which was picked as the best by the Telekom management and a financial consultant.

Several bids had reportedly arrived, with the second and third best bidders allegedly offering only one euro for the company.

Unlike the other bidders, the Hungarians reportedly received an assurance from Telekom that it would continue to advertise on Planet TV. Telekom reportedly also pledged to turn EUR 30 million in loans into Planet TV's capital before the sale is completed.

Telekom also allegedly plans to write off some EUR 3 million in business claims and contribute another million to help keep Planet TV afloat.

The portal also says that Hungarians could extend the sales procedure until the end of the year, but in that case Telekom would have to transfer another EUR 2 million to cover Planet TV's loss.

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STA, 30 June 2020 - The state-owned telecoms company Telekom Slovenije has reportedly sold its troubled subsidiary Planet TV to the Hungarian free-to-air channel TV2, owned by Jozsef Vida, whom media associate with the business network of the Hungarian ruling party Fidesz.

The unofficial news was broken on Tuesday by the editor of the news portal Požareport, Bojan Požar, who wrote that Planet TV, which produces the eponymous TV channel, has been sold for EUR 5 million, with the transaction still outstanding.

Telekom Slovenije, which launched Planet TV in 2012 under the then Janez Janša government, has not confirmed or denied the report.

Speculation that Hungary's TV2 was eyeing Planet TV started in early June, when reports also mentioned Croatian entrepreneur Ivan Ćaleta as a second candidate.

It was reported that the telecoms incumbent had been looking for a strategic partner which would buy a 49% share in the TV production company already at the beginning of January, only to change its mind later on.

According to the newspaper Delo, Planet TV has cost Telekom Slovenije EUR 80 million in the form of capital injections, advertisements, loans and other services since it was launched in September 2012, and has operated in the red all the time.

The latest blow was the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ordering Telekom last year to pay a EUR 23 million buyout to Antenna Group, the Greek partner who wanted out of the joint venture.

The telco, which thus became the sole owner of Planet TV, saw the buyout significantly reduce its profit last year, which reached a mere EUR 1.2 million.

After initially announcing the search for a strategic partner, Telekom Slovenije said in mid-March that selling the outright stake in Planet TV was also an option.

Planet TV was established by Telekom Slovenije at the time of Janša's 2012-13 government. Telekom also owns news web portal Siol.net, which got a new editor-in-chief after Janša became PM again in March.

Hungarian ownership is meanwhile presently involved in two Slovenian media outlets associated with Janša's Democrats (SDS) - the weekly paper Demokracija and the NovaTV web portal and TV channel.

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STA, 24 May 2020 - Telecoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije is to set up a test network featuring 5G technology at port operator Luka Koper to explore development options and test various logistics solutions. The project is co-financed from Horizon 2020, the EU's key 2014-2020 research and innovation multi-billion fund.

The 5G infrastructure is planned to offer not only communication services but also a number of virtual networks intended for individual business verticals, such as logistics, transport, health, energy, production facilities, smart cities and communities, Telekom Slovenije has announced.

Luka Koper will use the latest-generation wireless technology to test safety solutions as well as for process optimisation and environmental protection.

Since it enables faster transfer of larger quantities of data, the new technology should help improve control of safety and transshipment.

It should also facilitate electricity consumption control in a bid to improve energy efficiency.

Similar solutions are also to be tested in the German and Greek ports of Hamburg and Piraeus, respectively.

The Luka Koper-Telekom Slovenije project is part of 5G-Loginnov, a EU's development project focusing on 5G mobile technology to bring innovative solutions in logistics.

5G-Loginnov is co-financed by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 programme and brings together 15 partners from several European countries.

Among the Slovenian partners are Luka Koper, Telekom Slovenije and the Internet Institute from Ljubljana.

The 15 5G-Loginnov partners will invest almost EUR 8 million in the three-year project, to be completed in September 2023, with the EU contributing another EUR 6 million.

Both Telekom Slovenije and Luka Koper are also involved in other European 5G technology projects.

STA, 2 April 2020 - Telekom Slovenije, the majority state-owned telecoms incumbent, posted a group net profit of EUR 1.2 million for 2019, a fraction of the EUR 33.3 million it recorded a year before, largely due to a one-off payment over a now dissolved media joint venture.

Telekom had been ordered by a court of arbitration in late-2019 to buy out its partner in the joint venture, the Greece-based Antenna Group, for EUR 17.6 million plus interest, significantly above what it initially offered.

The company said on Thursday that without the one-off charge for the media venture Antenna TV SL and the associated events it would have posted a 13% increase in like-for-like profit over the year before.

Group profit before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was at EUR 205.4 million, an increase of 11%, whereas pre-tax profit (EBIT) rose by 73% to EUR 31 million, shows the financial report.

Group net sales stood at EUR 675.4 million, which is 6% below the 2018 level. The company however says that the figures are not directly comparable since Blicnet, a Bosnian subsidiary which was sold in 2018, was still included in financials for 2018.

Additionally, revenue contracted in the segments international wholesale traffic, mobile subscriptions and IT sales, while increases were recorded in the segments e-health, energy and financial services.

Group operating revenue thus totalled EUR 681.7 million, down one percent over the year before.

Investments amounted to almost EUR 168 million, which is below plans. The company says it had optimised purchasing and achieved the goals with lower investment outlays.

Having spent EUR 93 on dividend payments last year, Telekom does not plan to pay out dividends this year. While it has an accumulated profit of EUR 30.2 million, it plans to retain it quoting "uncertain impacts and unclear consequences" of the coronavirus pandemic.

Telekom CEO Tomaž Seljak is quoted as saying that the company quickly responded to the pandemic to ensure uninterrupted operation, but due to uncertainty about the gravity and duration of the pandemic it cannot reliably estimate how it will affect its operations.

STA, 10 December 2019 - The supervisory board of the telecoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije appointed on Tuesday Tomaž Seljak the new chairman for a full, four-year term. Seljak previously served as interim chairman following the resignation of Matjaž Merkan in mid-November.

Meanwhile appointed to the management board for a four-year term was Matjaž Beričič, who will be in charge of technology, the post previously held by the new chairman.

Seljak, who started his second term on the management board in May 2018, started working in Telekom Slovenije in 1997, becoming the head of the service in charge of the telecommunication cable network in 2004.

Before being appointed to the management board, he also headed the sector for the elimination of malfunctions and the sector for access networks.

Commenting on the appointment, chief supervisor Barbara Kürner Čad said that the company was facing numerous challenges related to the implementation of the strategic plan and new development and technological milestones.

"Telekom Slovenije needs continuity of management, which provides the company with stability, and excellent knowledge and experience in telecommunications," she added.

According to Kürner Čad, Seljak has proved to be a prudent manager with the knack for development of operations and as a good expert in telecommunications and trends.

Seljak succeeds Merkan after the latter resigned as chairman and CEO of the state-owned company on 14 November less than two months on the job.

While Telekom Slovenije said at the time that Merkan had resigned for personal reasons, Radio Slovenija said he stepped down after refusing to launch an inquiry into his predecessor Rudolf Skobe.

Skobe's tenure has been in the spotlight after Telekom has been ordered by an arbitration court to pay millions to the Greek Antenna Group, which wants to exit a media joint venture.

The public broadcaster TV Slovenija had meanwhile quoted anonymous sources privy to information that he was not up to the job.

Today, the supervisors also adopted the company's business plan for 2020, projecting EUR 676 million in operating revenue, EUR 210.6 million in EBITDA, EUR 27.5 million in net profit and EUR 209.7 million in investments.

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STA, 5 December 2019 - Pharmaceutical company Lek has been declared the top Slovenian employer in 2019, the first time in nine years that it has beaten rival drug maker Krka. The title is awarded by the jobs portal Mojedelo.

The award is the result of a poll involving 19,000 users of the jobs portal that measured various aspects of the reputation of companies as employers or potential employers, Styria Digital Marketplaces, which owns Mojedelo, said on Thursday.

Lek and Krka were followed in the rankings by energy companies Petrol and Gen-I, and telco Telekom Slovenije.

Lek, which is owned by the pharma giant Novartis, said the award recognised "that we have created an environment for our colleagues in which everyone can find their inspiration".

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STA, 14 November 2019 - Matjaž Merkan, the chairman and CEO of the state-owned telecoms incumbent Telekom Slovenije, has resigned after less than two months on the job effective immediately.

 The resignation, submitted at a supervisory board session on Thursday, comes after days of media reports that Merkan was on his way out.

Radio Slovenija said he stepped down after refusing to launch an inquiry into his predecessor Rudolf Skobe, whose tenure has been in the spotlight after Telekom has been ordered by an arbitration tribunal to pay millions to the Greek Antenna Group, which wants to exit a media joint venture.

TV Slovenija has quoted anonymous people privy to information that he was not up to the job.

The company today rejected these reports and said he was resigning for personal reasons.

His deputy, Tomaž Seljak, will serve as interim boss until a new chairman is appointed, Telekom announced.

Before coming to Telekom, Merkan headed Weiler Abrasives, the maker of abrasives formerly known as SwatyComet, for just over six years.

In the afternoon, Telekom issued a statement that the supervisors also decided to change Skobe's termination contract today.

In April, Telekom and Skobe agreed that his employment would be terminated on 29 February 2020. But under the changes made today, Skobe's employment will be terminated at the end of the month.

TV Slovenija said that Skobe was no longer needed by the supervisors. Earlier termination means Skobe will not get ten salaries and severance as stipulated in the original agreement but only seven salaries.

STA, 4 November 2019 - Telekom Slovenije, the telecoms incumbent, has been ordered to pay EUR 17.6 million plus default interest to its Greek partner in a media joint venture that the Greeks have long sought to exit.

Telekom had partnered with Antenna Group in 2013 to forge a joint venture that produces Planet TV, a small commercial TV station that has been in the red ever since it launched.

In several steps over the past few years Telekom gradually increased its ownership stake from the initial 51% as it recapitalised the loss-making company, most recently called Antenna TV SL.

The Greeks eventually wanted to exit the joint venture in accordance with a put option, but the two partners had not been able to reach an agreement and resorted to arbitration.

Telekom said Monday that the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce decided on 31 October that Antenna Group had exercised its put option correctly.

The company now has to pay Antenna Group EUR 17.6 million for its remaining 34% stake in the joint venture plus the costs of arbitration.

Telekom was represented by the Swiss law firm Umbricht. "The costs of counselling and of business and legal experts hired by the firm amounted to EUR 1.2 million, the arbitration fee to EUR 200,000, the total costs of the counterparty to EUR 1.1 million, and default interest has to date amounted to EUR 2.8 million," Telekom said in response to a query by the STA.

The dispute between the two partners stemmed from differing valuations of the company: Telekom valued it at under EUR 17 million and Atenna Group at EUR 88 million. The arbiters sided with Antenna.

Antenna TV SL, the company in question, reported revenue of EUR 13.5 million for 2018, up from under EUR 10 million in the year before. It reduced its net loss by almost half from 2017 to EUR 3.8 million.