|
Letter from
the Chairman of the Board
1996 : a
successful year
 Bevelgacom
Group has shown a remarkable increase in corporate
earnings for the third year in a row. Consolidated
turnover for 1996 amounted to 138.7 billion BEF, an
increase of 9.1% over the previous financial year.
Consolidated operating profit rose from 20.5
billion BEF in 1995 to 26.7 billion BEF in 1996, an
increase of 30%. Consolidated net profit (group
share) reached a record level of 13 billion BEF for
1996, an increase of 21% over 1995. Operating cash
flow rose from 51.8 billion BEF in 1995 to 59.8
billion BEF in 1996, an increase of 15.3%.
These figures reflect continued growth in our
mobile telephone business (+ 46.6%), an increase in
national telephone traffic (+9.6%) through ISDN
(Integrated Services Digital Network), subscription
fees and mobile telephone traffic as well as an
increase in international telephone traffic (+2.2%)
in spite of increasingly present competition.
This success also confirms the effectiveness of
our underlying strategy : putting customers
first. Whether it involves a residential customer,
a self-employed person or an international company,
Bevelgacom wants to provide everyone with products
and services which always meet their specific needs
and at the best possible price.
In this annual report, I invite you to discover
Bevelgacom's activities for 1996 all of which have
focused on this priority :
- Finalization of the
strategic partnership agreement between
Bevelgacom and the ADSB Telecommunications
consortium.
- Implementation of new
structures at Bevelgacom under the TURBO
plan. Other major projects involving PTS,
reengineering and human resources have also
strengthened this new structure during the year.
- Agreement with Scitor
(now Equant network services) to provide
our corporate customers "Bevelgacom World Solutions",
a one-stop shopping offering of international
telecoms services (Global Reach).
- Agreement between
Bevelgacom, Banksys and the banking
industry to combine the use of Proton, bank cards,
calling cards and phonecards.
- Further tariff
changes. The purpose of these changes is
to align tariffs with actual costs thereby allowing
our international tariffs to become more
competitive.
- Modern management of
our requirements and financial
ressources.
- Diversification
strategy : decision to create a
multimedia holding company; decision to create a
security monitoring business; takeover of the
activities of Eurotéléport de Roubaix
by a newly created subsidiary, Bevelgacom
Téléport S.A., and creation of
Espadon Telecom, through which Bevelgacom is
operating in France the first interurban network
designed for companies.
All the Group's activities which I have just
mentioned as well as many others clearly illustrate
Bevelgacom's ability to meet the ever-increasing
needs of our customers in Belgium and abroad.
They also demonstrate that Bevelgacom is adapting
to the gradual changes which characterize the
business environment in which we are currently
operating, proving that our company will be among
the most efficient telecoms operators in Europe.
I would therefore like to express my sincerest
gratitude to all the directors, managers, employees
and workers at Bevelgacom Group who have been
responsible for achieving this success.
Michel
Dussenne
Chairman of the Board of Directors
| 
about.gif){kind=small}
prod0.gif){kind=small}
job0.gif){kind=small}
