Brazil’s third largest telecoms company Brasil Telecom Participacoes (BrT) has reported a significant rise in second quarter profits to BRL105 million (USD49.95 million), up from BRL69 million a year ago, driven by strong growth from its cellular business and a fall in operational costs. BrT also earned BRL33.5 million in the first three months of the year, its first profit after three straight quarterly losses. The telco said its mobile business reported revenues of BRL260.4 million, up 72.8% from the same period a year ago, while the group’s operational costs helped the bottom line, falling from BRL1.7 billion in 2Q 2005 to BRL1.64 billion. EBITDA dipped slightly from BRL828 million to BRL813.6 million.
BrT is controlled by Citigroup and several Brazilian state-run pension funds. Telecom Italia is also a major shareholder, although it has hired JP Morgan to help it find a buyer for its stake in the company.