Bezeq Telecom Q2 profit up 18 p.c.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL: Bezeq Israel Telecom reported an 18 percent rise in quarterly profit on Monday, boosted by its mobile phone unit and growth in Internet services to offset further erosion in its traditional landline business.

Bezeq, Israel's largest telecoms group, posted second-quarter net profit of 638 million shekels ($169 million), or 0.24 shekel a share, compared with 541 million shekels, or 0.20 per diluted share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.8 percent to 2.98 billion shekels.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, which analysts believe is the most important measure of Bezeq's financial health, rose 12 percent to 1.34 billion shekels.

Bezeq, the first of Israel's telecoms companies to report quarterly results, was forecast to earn 611 million shekels on revenue of 2.92 billion shekels, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. EBITDA was estimated at 1.22 billion shekels.

The company said it would pay a dividend of 1.28 billion shekels, or 0.48 shekel a share, on Oct. 7.

"Growth areas such as Internet access, data and transmission services almost completely offset fixed-line telephony erosion," Shlomo Rodav, Bezeq's chairman, said in a statement.

Bezeq reiterated its 2010 outlook, projecting 2010 revenue, net profit from continuing operations to be in line or slightly higher than 2009 levels.