STA, 27 August 2019 - Matjaž Merkan, the former boss of the US-owned company Weiler Abrasives, has been appointed new chief executive of Telekom Slovenije, to replace Rudolf Skobe, who quit the post in April.

Announcing the supervisory board's decision on Tuesday, chief supervisor Lidija Glavina said that the vetting commission had put forward Merkan based on interviews with three shortlisted candidates.

"Telekom Slovenije is a good company, operating in a fast-changing sector ... We believe the style of leadership and the vision presented by Mr Merkan will contribute to implementation of the goals and further development of Telekom Slovenije," Glavina said.

Merkan, who will assume his four-year term as CEO of Slovenia's leading telecommunications company on 16 September, said he was glad to be taking on the new challenge.

"I'm guided by good results and target achievement together with employees," he said, noting his 20-year leadership experience.

Merkan headed Weiler Abrasives, the maker of abrasives formerly known as SwatyComet, for just over six years until the end of March this year. He has been advisor to the company's management since.

Merkan, who holds a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in economics, had earlier served for almost three years as a unit head at Swatycomet, and before that worked for lighting maker Siteco Sistemi and its precursor Elektrokovina Svetilke.

Noting his time with the company that was acquired by the US-based Weiler Corporation in 2015, he said that together with the team they implemented many innovations and aspired for business excellency.

He described Telekom Slovenije as an excellent company, a market leader introducing new products, services and trends in Slovenia and the broader region.

"I'm confident that it will retain its leading position in the future - including by expanding into new fields," he said, noting fast changes in the industry.

"Telekom Slovenije will need to become even more digitalised, advanced and agile. It's worth betting on the people who comprise the group and who have something to show for themselves even today," he added.

The appointment comes as the shareholders' meeting on Friday is due to appoint two new members of the supervisory board to replace Glavina and Ljubomir Rajšić.

The pair tendered their resignations in June. Rajšić's term ended on 18 June, while Glavina, the former CEO of Slovenian Sovereign Holding, will continue to serve until the shareholders' meeting.

According to unofficial information obtained by the business newspaper Finance, the candidates for the new supervisors are Barbara Cerovšek Zupančič and Igor Rozman.

The shareholders' meeting will also vote on the allocation of distributable profit for 2018. The proposal is to pay out a dividend of EUR 4.50 gross per share.

STA, 24 July - Telekom Slovenije posted a net profit of EUR 19.6 million for the first half of the year, an increase of 35%, even as sales revenue declined 5% to EUR 340.6 million, the company said on Wednesday.

Group profit before income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 11% to EUR 112.3 million and pre-tax profit (EBIT) surged 41% to EUR 23.8 million.

The company said sales revenue was down due to the sale of Blicnet, which was completed in the second half of the year, and lower revenue from fixed segment of the end-user market, primarily due to the completion of the Slovenian e-tolling system in 2018.

Telekom having offloaded most of its foreign subsidiaries in recent years, leaving it only with the Kosovo operator Ipko, the bulk of the sales and profit it generated in Slovenia; Kosovo accounts for less than a tenth of group revenue.

But the interim report also shows the group's position deteriorated overall, with the number of fixed and mobile retail connections dropping by about 2% in Slovenia and Kosovo, and broadband connections down 2% in Slovenia and as much as 7% in Kosovo.

In the first quarter of the year, the latest period for which data is available, Telekom remained market leader in all major segments but it continued to lose market share.

In the key mobile telephony segment, its market share contracted by 3.4 percentage point at the annual level to 41.9%, while in fixed broadband it contracted by over a percentage point to 32.3%.

The majority state-owned company also announced today it would propose dividends of EUR 4.50 gross per share at the 30 August annual general meeting, which would mean distributing around three-quarters of the EUR 39 million in accumulated profit among shareholders.

The proposal is significantly below last year's dividend payout, but it is by no means certain to be endorsed: last year the management proposed a payout of EUR 6.30 gross per share, but Slovenian Sovereign Holding (SSH) succeeded with a counter-proposal for dividends of EUR 14.30.

STA, 28 March 2019 - Telekom Slovenije, the state-owned telecoms incumbent, posted a group net profit of EUR 33.3m for 2018, an increase of 269% over the year before, even as revenue stagnated to stand at EUR 715m, three percent below plans, show results released on Thursday.

Earnings before income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled 185.5m, up 10% over the year before, and pre-tax profit (EBIT) rose almost three-fold to EUR 18m.

Both EBITDA and net profit were affected by the settlement of a large claim by rival telecoms provider T-2.

The settlement amount has never been disclosed, but the business newspaper Finance says figures from the annual report suggest it amounted to roughly EUR 50m and in effect reduced profit by EUR 25m since the company did not have sufficient provisions to cover the entire amount.

The company said it had increased revenue from fixed-line and IT services by 8%, with revenue from the sale of energy and insurance services also rising.

These new revenue streams have helped offset declining revenue from mobile users and users of fixed-line telephony, the report shows.

The Slovenian parent company accounted for the bulk of the sales, which at EUR 637.7m, were down a percent over 2017. Net profit stood at EUR 34m compared to EUR 1.7m in the year before.

Chairman Rudolf Skobe said the company has entered the second phase of transformation in 2018 and, having previously focused on innovation in its core business, would now strive to create value with digitalisation.

Telekom earmarked EUR 134m for investments last year, the bulk of the money spent on expansion of the fibre optic and mobile networks.

For 2019 the company projects worse results, as operating revenue is slated to top out at EUR 712m and profit is projected to decline by a tenth to just over EUR 30m.

Investments, meanwhile, are planned at EUR 212m.

The management and supervisory boards have proposed that dividends for last year be set at EUR 4.5 gross per share, which would mean shareholders would get just shy of EUR 30m.

However, the final payout may be completely different: last year the management proposed dividends of EUR 6.30 per share, but shareholders ended up endorsing a proposal by Slovenian Sovereign Holding for a payout of EUR 14.3 gross per share.

The Telekom share lost 0.3% in early trading on the Ljubljana Stock Exchange today, to trade at roughly EUR 65.

STA, 12 September 2018 - Telekom Slovenije, the state-owned telecoms incumbent, has agreed to pay EUR 50m to rival provider T-2 in a settlement of their long-running legal battle over abuse of dominant market position, several media have reported, citing unofficial sources. Telekom supervisors are to decide on the settlement on Thursday. 

STA, 20 July - Telekom Slovenije's group net profit in the first half of the year, following the calculation of income tax, including deferred taxes, dropped by 40% to EUR 14.5m over the same period last year, according to the unaudited business report the national telco's supervisory board discussed on Friday. 

The state-owned firm continues to dominate among mobile network provider.