Egypt's Global Telecom reports sharp rise in losses

Global Telecom, the Egypt-based group formerly known as Orascom Telecom, reported on Wednesday a 66 percent jump in net losses for the first nine months of the year, to 2.013 billion Egyptian pounds ($282 million) due to higher costs and taxes and adverse moves in foreign exchange rates.

The company, which is 51.9 percent owned by Vimpelcom , said revenue for the nine months ending on Sept. 30 slipped 3 percent to $2.52 billion from $2.61 billion in the same period last year.

It also said it lost $154.3 million in the third quarter alone, which compared with a net profit of $50.8 million in the same period last year.

"(Third-quarter) results were negatively impacted by competive pressures in Algeria and Pakistan. And this was partially offset by the strong recovery in Bangladesh," Chief Executive Vincenzo Nesci said on a news conference call.