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KPN plans $9B mobile sale
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March 20, 2000: 10:57 a.m. ET
Dutch telecom operator sets offer value for cellular arm; matches profit forecasts
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Dutch telecom operator Royal KPN said Monday it hoped to raise up to 10 billion euros ($9.6 billion) from an initial public offering of shares in its cellular arm.
KPN announced the target price as it unveiled a 21 percent rise in earnings for 1999 to 1.825 billion guilders ($804 million). While the result was in line with expectations, the company said the profit outlook was brighter than earlier expected, and forecast earnings growth of 20 percent for this year.
KPN shares jumped more than 8 percent in Amsterdam. The rise in profit underlined the improvement in business since the company last year said it would take three years before it matched its 1998 earnings as rising competition forced down phone tariffs.
The company said it aims to raise between 8 billion and 10 billion euros from the sale of a 25 percent stake in its KPN Mobiel unit, which it will offer for sale in Amsterdam and Frankfurt in the second quarter.
The forecast increase in 2000 earnings does not include any profit from this sale or from the disposal of a stake in Ireland's Eircom. It does, though, include a contribution from E-Plus Mobilfunk, the German cellular operator in which KPN last year acquired a majority stake. 
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Royal KPN
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