MILLICOM INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR S.A. ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007 New York and Stockholm - February 13, 2008- Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Nasdaq Stock Market: MICC and Stockholmsbörsen: MIC), the global telecommunications company, today announces results for the quarter and year ended December 31, 2007. • Subscriber increase at end of Q4 of 56% versus Q4 06, bringing total subscribers to 23m* • 41% increase in revenues for Q4 to $768m (Q4 06: $544m) * • 34% increase in EBITDA for Q4 to $307m (Q4 06: $229m) * • Profit before tax for Q4 of $107m (Q4 06: $99m) * • Net Profit for Q4 of $113m (Q4 06: $50m, including discontinued operations) • Basic earnings per common share for Q4 of $1.11 (Q4 06: $0.50) • 67% increase in revenues for the full year to $2,631m (2006: $1,576m) * • 55% increase in EBITDA for the full year to $1,114m (2006: $717m) * • Profit before tax for the full year of $539m (2006: $354m) * • Net Profit for the full year, including discontinued operations, of $697m (2006: $169m) • Basic Earnings per common share of $6.90 for the year to Dec 2007 (2006: $1.68) • Special dividend of $2.40 per share recommended by the Board * Excludes discontinued operations Chief Executive Officer's Review Marc Beuls, CEO of Millicom commented; “The strong growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2007 demonstrates the gathering momentum within the businesses, with Millicom reporting a record intake of 3.4m new subscribers in the seasonally strong fourth quarter. For the full year, there was a total of 8.4m subscribers added in 2007, up by 56% year on year. We saw the opportunity in 2007 to increase our rate of investment, as the markets in which we operate continue to grow at a fast pace. Total capex was over $1bn for the full year compared to $616m in 2006. We expect to maintain this high level of capex with investment targeted in excess of $1bn in 2008. “The strongest cluster in terms of subscriber acquisition was Central America which was up 71% in the year with 1.4m new subscribers added in Q4, which was a quarterly record for a cluster. The African cluster was not far behind with subscriber growth of 66% during 2007 and over one million new subscribers were added in Q4, the first time that this has happened. This is extremely encouraging for the future as the African markets have the lowest levels of penetration and so the greatest opportunity for growth. Our financial performance continues to be strong with revenues up by 67% year on year and EBITDA up by 55%. Excluding the Colombian acquisition, the respective increases in revenue and EBITDA were 47% and 45% for the year. There was impressive revenue growth of 57% in South America excluding Colombia, 53% in Africa, 44% in Central America and 33% in Asia. “The African results are particularly exciting as strong growth was experienced across all the major markets. Today we have over 2m customers in Ghana and saw a 34% sequential growth in subscribers from the third to the fourth quarter. We have over 1m customers in both Tanzania and Senegal and saw sequential growth during the fourth quarter of 20% and 13% respectively in these two markets. In all three operations, Tigo benefited from several affordability initiatives made earlier in the year. Our investments to improve the availability, reliability and reach of the networks in these countries are now enabling us to attract the higher quality customers in these markets which should help drive future growth. The newer African markets are also now gaining traction: Congo DRC grew by 38% from the third to the fouth quarter to 547k subscribers and the smaller market of Chad grew by 14% sequentially to 323k subscribers. Sadly, we were asked to shut down our network by the government in Chad on January 31, 2008 because of a rebel attack on the capital city, N'Djamena. Our people are safe and the network is undamaged. The situation has improved considerably and our people are in the process of returning to our offices. We will be resuming operations imminently. Although revenue in Africa grew by 53% during the full year 2007, the very strong intake of subscribers and the development of the new businesses in Chad and DRC impacted the EBITDA margin, which was down to 31% for the year from 39% in 2006. We believe that we have seen a low in terms of EBITDA margins in Africa in Q3 and by Q4 there was a slight improvement. From a bigger base that will enable us to drive economies of scale, we expect to be able to continue gradually to improve the overall EBITDA margin in Africa despite continued aggressive expansion. “The results from Central America continue to be strong and again reflect the high level of investment in 2007. Tigo continues to build or hold market share. EBITDA margins in Central America increased slightly to 53% for the year, but in Q4 margins were down slightly to 51% reflecting the record intake in Q4 and the related cost of handset subsidies which were needed to attract additional high value subscribers ahead of the launch of 3G services in 2008. In Honduras a new fourth licence was awarded during the quarter. Launches by the third and fourth operators are likely to accelerate penetration growth but also bring about a decline in our very high market share in Honduras, although we expect to maintain our strong number one position. “In South America all three businesses continue to grow strongly with revenue growth of 152% year on year and, excluding Colombia, this region had an underlying growth rate of 57% in 2007. As has already been announced, the Colombian regulator cut interconnect rates from 12 UScents to 6 UScents on December 7, 2007. There has been a short term impact to revenues as Tigo has historically had more incoming than outgoing calls. Revenues and EBITDA in December were impacted by some $7m and $5m, respectively. We used this reduction in interconnect costs to reduce our outgoing tariffs, and at the same time, took the opportunity to reduce most other tariffs as well. Due to the price elasticity that we believe exists in this market, we expect to offset the impact of the interconnect change gradually as we progress throughout 2008. Long term, we believe that the cut in interconnect rates will be beneficial, especially for Tigo as the third operator. Tigo added 267k subscribers in Q4 in Colombia, an increase of 11%, and continues to see a steady growth in subscriber intake quarter on quarter. We are on track to reach our market share target of 20% in a few years. “Asian revenues grew by 33% and EBITDA by 30% in 2007 with a 41% EBITDA margin. The EBITDA margin in Q4 was impacted by the settlement of a revenue share dispute in Cambodia relating to the international gateway, which had an adverse impact of $2.1m. The full year and Q4 EBITDA margins would have been 42% and 41% respectively, without this settlement cost. Sri Lanka continues to grow strongly with EBITDA margins in excess of 50%. “During the year, Millicom repurchased $90m face value of the 10% Senior Notes as part of an on-going programme to improve balance sheet efficiency by retiring debt at the corporate level and replacing it with debt at the operating companies which helps to reduce the overall effective tax rate. We have the right to redeem the remaining Notes in December 2008 and have decided to exercise this option at that time. Due to the planned early redemption, we accrued the bulk of the 5% redemption premium in the fourth quarter, increasing interest expense by $31m. “After the year end, Millicom forced the conversion of its $200m convertible bond, again removing corporate debt that will be replaced with local operating company debt. Millicom will save approximately $16m of interest at the corporate level over the next two years by redeeming this debt early. “Due to the better than expected results of our Colombian operation during the year, and the anticipated strength of this operation going forward, we have been able to record a deferred tax asset in the fourth quarter for the net operating losses assumed as part of this acquisition and the losses incurred since the acquisition date. The total tax benefit recorded by Colombia Movil in the fourth quarter was $86m. This has resulted in an effective tax rate for the Group of 16% for the full year in 2007. “As a result of the one time net cash flow benefit attributable to the Paktel sale, the Board of Directors is recommending a special dividend of $2.40 a share to be paid following ratification at the Annual General Meeting in May 2008. The Board will consider establishing a recurring dividend in future on the basis of the expected free cash flows, which is EBITDA less interest, taxes and Capex. “Today Millicom has a very strong balance sheet which will enable the Company to continue to exploit its strong market position in sixteen of the best growth markets in the world. This financial strength with very low leverage enables us to look at a wide variety of options to generate shareholder value in an uncertain economic climate which may bring opportunities.” CONFERENCE CALL DETAILS A conference call to discuss the results will be held at 14.00 UK / 15.00 CET / 09.00 EDT, on Wednesday, February 13, 2008. The dial-in numbers are: +44 (0)20 7806 1956, +46 (0)8 5352 6407 or +1 718 354 1388 and the passcode is 8417299. Please go to our website at www.millicom.com for a copy of the slides to be discussed during the call. A live audio stream of the conference call can also be accessed at www.millicom.com. Please dial in / log on 5 minutes prior to the start of the conference call to allow time for registration. A recording of the conference call will be available for 7 days after the conference call, commencing approximately 30 minutes after the live call has finished, on: +44 (0)20 7806 1970 / +46 (0)8 5876 9441 or +1 718 354 1112, access code: 8417299#. Note: For tabular financial information and the full text of the statement, please refer to the attached PDF. Millicom International Cellular S.A. is a global telecommunications group with mobile telephony operations in Asia, Latin America and Africa. It currently has mobile operations and licenses in 16 countries. The Group's mobile operations have a combined population under license of approximately 287 million people. This press release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” with respect to Millicom's expectations and plans, strategy, management's objectives, future performance, costs, revenues, earnings and other trend information. It is important to note that Millicom's actual results in the future could differ materially from those anticipated in forward-looking statements depending on various important factors. Please refer to the documents that Millicom has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including Millicom's most recent annual report on Form 20-F, for a discussion of certain of these factors. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to Millicom on the date hereof. All written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to Millicom International Cellular S.A., any Millicom International Cellular S.A. employees or representatives acting on Millicom's behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. Millicom does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. CONTACTS: Marc Beuls President and Chief Executive Officer Millicom International Cellular S.A., Luxembourg Telephone: +352 27 759 327 David Sach Chief Financial Officer Millicom International Cellular S.A., Luxembourg Telephone: +352 27 759 327 Andrew Best Investor Relations Shared Value Ltd, London Telephone: +44 20 7321 5022 Visit our web site at http://www.millicom.com
MILLICOM INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR S.A. ANNOUNCES RESULTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2007
| Source: Millicom International Cellular S.A.