FINAL RESULT 2003

 

The board of Opticom ASA resolved the report and final annual financial statements for 2003 on 10 March. The statements are attached. Also, the board resolved to call the annual general meeting on 5 May for consideration and resolution of the usual matters. The call to annual general meeting will be sent to shareholders with the printed annual report latest two weeks before 5 May.

 

The financial statements for 2003 differ from the preliminary results in two respects:

 

Firstly, in preparation for IFRS implementation in 2005, the group's assets and liabilities were reviewed at the end of 2003. The review was not completed at the time of the preliminary report. Following that review, and considering the continuing delays in the Intel project, the group chose to write down the intangible assets in TFE. The additional write-down amounted to NOK 140.4 million.

 

Secondly, the deferred tax liability related to the shares in Fast Search & Transfer ASA (Fast) was corrected to 28% of the net book value less the tax cost base. The correction amounted to NOK 133.2 million reduced deferred tax in the opening balance of 2003. In the very unlikely case that Opticom should sell its shares in Fast, a payable tax of about 28% of the selling price will accrue. At market price by the end of 2003, this tax would amount to NOK 310.4 million.

 

 

 

 

10 March 2004

Opticom ASA