* Q3 earnings due Wednesday, Nov 11 after the market closes
* OIBDA seen down 10 percent, revenue down 12 percent
* Markets watching guidance after revenue target dropped
PRAGUE, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Telecom group Telefonica O2 Czech
Republic <> is expected to post a 10 percent drop in
third-quarter core profit on waning consumer demand, a Reuters
poll showed on Friday.
Operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (OIBDA) was forecast at 6.47 billion crowns ($375
million).
Revenue was seen falling 12 percent to 14.8 billion crowns,
while net profit was estimated down 18 percent at 2.64 billion.
Apart from lower consumer spending, Czech Telefonica was
also hit by a reduction on interconnection and roaming fees
imposed on telecom operators by the European Union.
"We expect a decline in wireline and mobile revenues due to
the bad economic environment," Jindrich Svatek, an analyst at
Raiffeisenbank in Prague, said in a note.
The company's results a year ago were boosted by a one-off
item that lifted revenue by 960 million crowns and profit by
around 300 million.
Analysts said markets would be watching for changes in
guidance after the group dropped its full-year revenue outlook
last quarter due to low market visibility. But it has confirmed
2009 OIBDA should be flat to down 4 percent.
If third-quarter market expectations were met, it would mean
a 6.4 percent drop in OIBDA for the nine-month period, making
the full-year forecast difficult to fulfil and subject to a
possible revision, analysts said.
Shares in the biggest Czech telecom firm, 69 percent owned
by Spanish group Telefonica <TEF.MC>, have held broadly steady
this year on the back of its 12 percent dividend yield.
But at the same time, the stock lagged the market's recovery
this year, having grown by 1 percent as Prague's index <>
jumped 30 percent.
Following is a summary of analyst estimates (figures in
billions of crowns):
Q3 2009 Average Median Range Q3 2008
Revenue 14.81 14.72 14.52-15.64 16.83
OIBDA 6.47 6.46 5.95- 7.08 7.22
Operating profit 3.45 3.47 2.84- 3.96 4.11
Net profit 2.64 2.61 2.20- 3.08 3.02
The following banks and equity houses took part in the poll:
Atlantik FT, BH Securities, Cyrrus, Erste Bank/Ceska Sporitelna,
Fio, Komercni Banka, HSBS, Morgan Stanley, Raiffeisenbank, UBS,
UniCredit Global Research, and Wood & Company.
(Reporting by Jan Korselt; Editing by Dan Lalor)
($1 = 17.27 Czech crowns)
