Brasil Telecom Highlights 2nd Annual Investor Day in San Paolo
21 December 2005 - 3:59PM
PR Newswire (US)
Brasil Telecom Issues Strategy for 2006, Outlines Transparent
Disclosure Policy, Launches New Products and Details Cost Controls
BRASILIA, Brazil, Dec. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Brasil Telecom
Participacoes (BOV: BRTP3/BRTP4; NYSE: BRP) presented the Company's
business plan for 2006 to the investment community and financial
market professionals at its 2nd Annual Investor Day held in San
Paulo on December 19, 2005. In order to reaffirm its policy of
transparency, the Company detailed the procedures adopted by the
new management during the 80-day transition period since September
30, 2005, as well as the strategy approved by the Board of
Directors on December 16, 2005. Brasil Telecom's CEO, Ricardo
Knoepfelmacher, opened the meeting to investors, analysts and
stockholders, through a simultaneous webcast to the international
market granting simultaneous access to all interested parties.
Currently, Brasil Telecom has a free float of 80%, a significant
portion of which is held by international investors. At the event,
Mr. Knoepfelmacher discussed the strategy and actions undertaken
during the transition phase across several key areas, including:
finance, sales and marketing, regulatory issues, human resources,
corporate governance, operations, new e-business opportunities,
inventory management, internal auditing, legal affairs and
institutional relations. Francisco Santiago, Operations Vice
President, introduced the investment community to the Company's
operating strategy for each market segment; Luiz Perrone, Vice
President for Strategic Planning and Regulatory Matters, talked
about the regulatory environment; and Chief Financial Officer and
Investor Relations Officer Charles Putz gave a comprehensive
account on the expected dynamics for the Company's financial
outlook. Key messages delivered by management on the Company's 2006
initiatives: * Revenue -- the need to offset the revenue erosion in
fixed telephony through the growth in other business segments,
especially broadband and mobile telephony; * Operating costs and
expenses -- plans to optimize expenditures, identify cost saving
opportunities and renegotiate contracts, as well as to minimize the
capital investments required within the present regulatory
environment; * Capital structure -- the intention to reduce the
Company's weighted average cost of capital and maintain adequate
levels of liquidity; and * Dividend distribution -- the need to
honor statutory obligations, prioritize shareholder value creation,
and optimize tax planning. Mr. Charles Putz shared details of the
cost cutting measures taken to offset increases in expenses. Mr.
Charles Putz stated, "For 2006, Brasil Telecom is expecting a zero
to marginal operating expense increase." Capital expenditures for
fiscal 2006 are expected to be in excess of 2 billion real where
most of the increase is expected to come from regulatory
requirements. The Company also discussed plans to protect its fixed
voice business, which secures a significant portion of its
revenues, and also plans to maintain its current broadband
expansion, by offering value-added IP (Internet Protocol) services
such as VOIPFone. The Company plans to enlarge its customer base in
the mobile telephony market by focusing on corporate clients as
high end users. Finally, Brasil Telecom also intends to offer a
wider range of new products and advanced services to small and
medium enterprises by designing bundled packages. Recent
Achievements Brasil Telecom achieved two important milestones in
December. The Company achieved the one million broadband subscriber
mark on December 13 and it surpassed the two million wireless
subscriber mark in mid December, and according to Brasil Telecom's
expectations, this accounts for 8% of Region II's market. Brasil
Telecom management anticipates the figure to grow by 30% to 40% in
the coming year. During the conference, management discussed
various achievements in 2005, such as the launch of the Company's
convergent services with Multiconference (combining interactive
communications by audio, video and web) and Internet Banking. In
December 2005, the VPN (Virtual Private Networks) convergent
technology was launched, allowing companies to place into the
network a PABX (telephone central) for fixed and mobile lines. In
2006, Brasil Telecom foresees the expansion of the VOIPFone (voice
over Internet protocol) service. In April of 2006, subscribers are
expected to be able to access their corporate e-mails on their
mobile phones. APPENDIX RICARDO KNOEPFELMACHER Mr. Knoepfelmacher
was elected CEO of Brasil Telecom on September 30, 2005, and also
holds the CEO position for Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA. Born in
Rio de Janeiro, 39-year old Knoepfelmacher has a degree in
Economics from the University of Brasilia and a Master in
International Management from Thunderbird AGSIM, Glendale, AZ, USA.
Prior to Brasil Telecom, Mr. Knoepfelmacher was CEO of Caloi and
Pegasus Telecom (Telemar). He was also a partner of Angra Partner's
Monitor do Brasil and MDGK & Associados. He acted as financial
executive at Nutrimental and associate consultant and McKinsey
& Company, where he worked in restructuring processes for
recently privatized companies. FRANCISCO AURELIO SAMPAIO SANTIAGO
Mr. Santiago is the Vice President of Operations of Brasil Telecom.
He has been an executive officer at Brasil Telecom since 2002 and
at Brasil Telecom Participacoes SA since 2003. During this period,
he was Commercial and Network Vice President. Born in 1954, he has
a degree in electricity engineering from the University of
Brasilia. He joined Telebras in 1980 and before the company's
privatization, he was the Human Resources director and Engineering
Director at Telebrasilia. He has a specialization degree in New
Telecommunications Technologies by the Escola Nacional Superior de
Telecomunicacoes and by Escola Nacional Superior de Eletricidade of
Paris, Telecommunications by the University of Brasilia, Strategy
and Planning by Fundacao Getulio Vargas -- SP and Marketing
Analysis and Planning Course by Warthon School, University of
Pennsylvania, USA. LUIZ FRANCISCO T. PERRONE Mr. Perrone is the
Vice President for Strategic Planning and Regulatory at Brasil
Telecom. He is an electronic engineer by Instituto Tecnologico da
Aeronautica -- ITA. He has several extension courses in France,
Netherlands and the United States. He started his career at
Telefunken do Brasil and Rhode Und Schwarz (Munchen -- Germany.) He
was part of the National Department of Telecommunications and at
Embratel, where he was Services Director and Substitute President.
He was a director at Intelsat (Washington, DC -- USA.), and Vice
President of Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes (Anatel) from
1997 to 2001. He represented Brazil as Deputy in Chief in several
international conferences of Intelsat, Inmarsat, United Nations,
UIT, Citel and other telecommunication-related bodies. CHARLES
LAGANA PUTZ Mr. Putz is Chief Financial Officer, and Administrative
and Investor Relations Officer of Brasil Telecom. He has a
bachelor's degree in Business and post-graduate in Accounting,
Finance and Controlling by FGV. He has a Master in Business
Administration by Switzerland's IMD, where he was awarded the Bozz,
Allen and Hamilton prize for best-presented essay. He undertook
several courses at Wharton and Harvard. Previous to Brasil Telecom,
Mr. Putz was president of Crown Corp Tampas Plasticas and Petropar
Embalagens. He also held the position of general director for
Agaprint and Bacarft, and CFO at Microlite. He was also Corporate
Controller and Mergers and Acquisitions officer at Telefonica
Group, lastly he formerly was CFO of Telefonica Empresas. He was a
professor at FGV for fifteen years. Safe Harbor This document
contains forward-looking statements. Such statements do not
constitute facts occurred in the past and reflect the expectation
of the Company's managers only. The words "anticipates," "intends,"
"plans," "predicts," "projects," and "expects" as well as other
similar words are intended to identify those forward-looking
statements which obviously involve risks or uncertainties predicted
or not by the Company. Accordingly, the results of the Company's
operations may differ from the current expectations and the reader
should not exclusively rely on these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made
and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update them in
light of new information or future developments. Media Relations
Cesar Borges (+5561) 3415-1378/ 8401-7248 DATASOURCE: Brasil
Telecom Participacoes CONTACT: Media - Cesar Borges for Brasil
Telecom Participacoes, +5561-3415-1378 or +5561-8401-7248
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