By John Revill
ZURICH--Telecommunications company Swisscom AG (SCMN.VX)
Wednesday said it expects the Swiss franc to remain strong against
the euro for the rest of this year and into 2013, as it lowered its
sales outlook for 2012.
"For next year we also expect EUR/CHF at 1.20," said Chief
Executive Carsten Schloter.
The Swiss company Wednesday lowered its euro/Swiss franc
exchange rate assumptions for the year from 1.23 to 1.20, knocking
100 million Swiss francs ($103 million) from its revenue
expectations.
Swisscom now expects net revenue of CHF11.3 billion for 2012,
down from the CHF11.4 billion it predicted in May.
Although most of its business is in Switzerland, Swisscom gets
about 18% of its revenue in euros from Fastweb, its Italian
subsidiary.
Swisscom had expected an exchange rate of 1.23 at the beginning
of the year, but following the development of the euro and action
by the Swiss National Bank to defend its 1.20 floor introduced last
year, Chief Financial Officer Ueli Dietiker said there had been
almost no change in the exchange rate.
"For 2012 we expect the euro/franc at 1.20," Mr. Dietiker told a
conference call.
"But we have kept our Ebitda [earnings before interest,
depreciation and amortization] guidance of CHF4.4 billion because
of the strength of our operations. We want to show that foreign
exchange only has an impact on the revenue side and we are able to
defend Ebitda."
At 0640 GMT, the euro was trading at CHF1.2010.
-Write to John Revill at john.revill@dowjones.com